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Date: April 25, 2024 Thu
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66 results foundAuthor: Latour, Stephanie Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo Case Study Summary: Wild game meat, or ‘bushmeat’, has been the most important source of protein in the Congo Basin forests of Central Africa for millennia (Wilkie & Carpenter, 1999; Bakarr, et al., 2001). Human population density was very low over most of this long period, but over the last century population growth has been rapidly increasing with the introduction of modern health care and better nutrition (Bennett, 2008). Roads are penetrating previously inaccessible forests to prospect for oil and minerals or to log for timber (Wilkie, et al., 2000; Laurance, et al., 2006). These new roads and economic activities attract farmers and hunters. Agricultural interventions such as cocoa, coffee and oil palm plantations in the name of economic development degrade the forest and attract even more people (World Bank, 2011). Hunting methods have changed radically over the past few decades with the introduction and spread of military weapons, dramatically increasing bushmeat offtake (Barnes, 2002; Fa & Brown, 2009). All of these factors impact negatively on biodiversity in general and on mammals in particular (Nasi, et al., 2008). Central Africa presents a radically and rapidly changing dynamic for elephants. Range fragmentation is pushed by human population growth and by the expansion of extractive activities into remaining wilderness areas. Associated corruption and disregard of established laws by government officials and the populace contribute to the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources. In addition, persistent conflict in the region and subsequent spread of arms, facilitate the killing of elephants and the marketing of their products. A growing body of evidence indicates that Africa is facing a dangerous resurgence in illegal elephant killing following a relative lull of over a decade since 1990 with the commencement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) international trade in ivory moratorium. News reports, announcements by Interpol and TRAFFIC, amongst others, report increasing numbers of ivory seizures, including some of the largest ever recorded. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was implicated in more ivory seizures between 1989 and 2009 than any other country in Africa. There is also evidence to suggest that the DRC is the source of some of the ivory found in large consignments destined for Asian markets through Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (Milliken, et al., 2009). News reports to date have focused almost exclusively on the illegal trade in ivory, implying that this is the primary economic driver. An unacknowledged issue is the trade in elephant bushmeat. Elephant bushmeat is potentially a major economic bonus, and available to actors who may have little access to the proceeds from ivory. In addition, the consumption and trade of elephant meat may reflect underlying human-elephant conflict, with retaliatory killings or ‘authorized’ culls being a source of meat. In many Central African countries, exaggerated claims of elephant crop raiding are used as a pretext for state sanctioned killing and distribution of meat. Permissions for the killings, and the meat windfall, are used by local politicians to gain popular support (John Hart, in litt., 2010). Wildlife laws in Central Africa permit the harvesting of administratively culled elephants. While elephant meat may be a by-product of the ivory trade, it could also be a primary driver of elephant deaths in certain localities and of particular concern for conservation, given that elephants with small or no tusks can be targeted. While ivory networks target large tusk accumulations intended for export, and thus focus on the last remaining subpopulation concentrations – usually in protected areas – elephant bushmeat can be attractive and even profitable when the number of elephants to be killed are far fewer, and the value of the acquired ivory is almost negligible. An initial assessment of the existing Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (CITES-MIKE) programme’s carcass database, pertaining to information collected between 2001 and 2009, indicates that the demand for elephant meat, especially in the Central African subregion, may be an important factor underlying the illegal killing of elephants (CITES, 2010). The dynamics, scale and impact of the trade in elephant meat are not well understood and more information is required, both to improve the information in MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and to assist with the development of appropriate policy and management strategies. The IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) has been charged by MIKE with implementing a Introduction 13 project to investigate the linkages between the elephant meat trade and larger social and economic dynamics at play, including, but not limited to, ivory trade, logging (legal and illegal), mining, infrastructure development, global economic trends, law enforcement at the national and international level, and community forest governance. The project was carried out in four Central African countries. This report presents an account of the results of the DRC case study, which focuses on the Okapi Faunal Reserve as an example of an elephant poaching and product trafficking site. Objectives of the study The objective of the study is to enhance knowledge of contemporary elephant bushmeat market dynamics, patterns and trends in north-eastern DRC and determine the impact of elephant meat trade on the Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR) population. Within this overall objective the study aims to collect information on: 1. who is involved in killing elephants for meat and ivory respectively; 2. the methods and work effort of those involved; 3. the transport methods and routes used for trafficking meat and ivory; 4. the final destination of meat and ivory and identification of the consumers; 5. the commodity chain of meat and ivory respectively and the social networks involved; 6. the economics of the trade: prices, quantities, frequency, etc.; 7. the quantities of meat and ivory that are obtained annually from OFR; 8. attitudes and motivation related to killing elephants of those involved in the trade: the hunters, transporters/ middlemen, vendors and consumers; 9. the relationship and functioning of elephant meat trade within the broader context of bushmeat trade in general; 10. the influence of external factors on the killing of elephants and trade in their products, for example, logging (legal and illegal); mining; infrastructure development; law enforcement at the national and international level; community forest governance; and economic trends that affect demand. Details: Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 3, 2012 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-003.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-003.pdf Shelf Number: 125461 Keywords: BushmeatElephantsIvoryPoachingWildlife Crimes (Africa) |
Author: Neale, Ezra Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Central African Republic Case Study Summary: The unsustainable trade of wild meat (‘bushmeat’) has placed significant pressures on populations of wild animals and is recognized by conservationists as a main threat to the preservation of regional biodiversity (Wilkie & Carpenter, 1999; Nasi, et al., 2008). In Central Africa, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) has been widely hunted for its tusks and more recently for its meat, threatening its future survival (Blake, et al., 2007). This pilot study was instigated by the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and is being implemented by the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG). It seeks to explore the many causes and motivations driving the illegal killing of elephants, particularly the trade and commerce of elephant meat and ivory. This pilot study aims to lay the groundwork for a long-term study that will explore the meat and ivory trade around the Dzanga Sangha Complex (DSC) in the Central African Republic (CAR). This study was a preliminary survey aimed at laying the groundwork for future long-term work on the impact of elephant meat and ivory trade on illegal elephant killing. The study focused on engaging local stakeholders to build awareness of the goals and objectives of the pilot study, selecting study sites that had high potential to yield useful information, developing and testing data collection tools with research assistants (RAs), and formulating recommendations regarding how best to carry out a long-term study in the Dzanga Sangha Complex MIKE monitoring site. The objectives were to: • establish institutional support and working relationships with cooperating governmental and international and national organizations involved in biodiversity conservation in CAR; • identify international consultants, national experts, technical advisors and field assistants that could contribute usefully to project goals; • test the draft methodology developed by IUCN/SSC AfESG under field conditions with a view to refining the methods and data variables in order to produce improved results in future; • identify the priority data collection localities; • produce a set of quantitative and qualitative data that would present an initial depiction of the causes and circumstances of illegal elephant killing in the project sites; and • generate the information necessary to plan a well focused project, second phase, in which all of the parameters for successful research would be in place. Details: Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-002.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central African Republic URL: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-002.pdf Shelf Number: 125467 Keywords: BushmeatElephantsIllegal HuntingWildlife Crime (Central African Republic) |
Author: Stiles, Daniel Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Summary Report Summary: An initial assessment of the 2001-2009 carcass database of the CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme suggests that the trade in elephant meat, especially in the central African subregion, may be an important factor underlying the illegal killing of elephants. The dynamics, scale and impact of the trade in elephant meat are not well understood and more information is required, both to improve the information in MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and to assist with the development of appropriate management solutions. In the forested countries of the central African subregion, a complex and interconnected variety of development activities take place, such as timber harvesting, mining, building of supporting infrastructure (e.g. roads, schools, clinics) and the inflow of foreign nationals. These attract an influx of immigrants seeking work, both national and foreign, who depend heavily on bushmeat for protein. With little law enforcement capacity and weak governance structures, there is a very real threat to many local elephant populations. At present the primary factors and dynamics in the illegal offtake of elephants in Central Africa and, in particular, the use of not only ivory but also meat, are assumed but not well understood. A deeper knowledge of the scale and extent of the killing and how the ivory and meat markets are interlinked is urgently needed. Therefore gaining greater understanding of these trade dynamics could help to ascertain the key drivers behind the loss of elephants and other species. African elephant range States of the Central African subregion comprise Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Republic of Congo (ROC), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. CITES MIKE has requested the assistance of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) to implement the ‘Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa Project’. Objectives The overall objective of the study is to enhance knowledge of contemporary elephant meat market dynamics, patterns and trends in Central African countries by undertaking an elephant meat trade impact study. The results aim to establish a baseline data set of variables that can subsequently be monitored to assess trends in meat and ivory trade at the site level. The findings of this study also aim to offer contributions to satisfy elements in CITES Decision 13.11 ‘Bushmeat’, Decision 14.78 (Rev. CoP15), which concern updating information relating to the status of elephant conservation and the data that MIKE is collecting, and Decision 15.74, which is an evaluation of the need to revise CITES Resolution 10.10 (Rev. CoP 15) ‘Trade in Elephant Specimens’. Details: Gland, Switzerland: International union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/ssc_op_045.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/ssc_op_045.pdf Shelf Number: 125468 Keywords: BushmeatElephantsIllegal HuntingWildlife Crime (Africa) |
Author: Martin, Esmond Title: The Ivory Dynasty: A Report on the Soaring Demand for Elephant and Mammoth Ivory in Southern China Summary: China is the largest importer by weight of illegal ivory in the world (Milliken, et al. 2009). In response the government of China took steps to reduce this illegal ivory trade in 2004 by introducing an official identification card for each ivory item sold in registered shops. China was then approved by CITES to buy tusks from the southern African ivory auctions in 2008; Chinese traders bought 62 tonnes. In January 2011 we surveyed ivory factories and retail outlets in Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China and an important ivory centre, and in Fuzhou, a city famous for carving. According to a factory owner in Fuzhou, in 2010 he paid on average USD 455/kg for government-owned 1-5kg tusks with a range of USD 303- 530/kg. Similarly, privately-owned raw ivory in 2010 was USD 750/ kg, according to various sources. Siberian mammoth high quality tusks were around USD 400/kg in 2010 wholesale in China. In Guangzhou we counted 6,437 ivory objects (88% newer items) on display for retail sale of which 3,947 were being sold without ID cards therefore illegally. There were 80 outlets selling ivory in Guangzhou of which only eight displayed the compulsory ID cards. Demand for ivory is increasing; since 2004 there has been a 50% increase in the number of ivory items for sale in Guangzhou. There were also 6,541 mammoth ivory items counted, mostly in mammoth ivory specialty shops. Since 2004 there has been a 100% rise in mammoth ivory items in Guangzhou. This is mainly due to an increasingly wealthy Chinese population, and favourable publicity about mammoth tusks. In Fuzhou, ivory demand is much less: we counted only 282 ivory items (66% older pieces) in 39 outlets; none had ID cards. Mammoth ivory items numbered 100, mostly in one outlet. Of all the elephant ivory items we counted in Guangzhou and Fuzhou, 63% did not have ID cards and were therefore illegally on display. Recommendations to cut down illegal trade are given in this report. Details: London: Elephant Family, The Aspinall Foundation and Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, 2011. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 20, 2012 at: http://www.elephantfamily.org/uploads/copy/EF_Ivory_Report_2011_web.pdf Year: 2011 Country: China URL: http://www.elephantfamily.org/uploads/copy/EF_Ivory_Report_2011_web.pdf Shelf Number: 125711 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal Ivory Trade (China)Mammoth TusksWildlife Crimes |
Author: Kooten, G. Cornelis van Title: Elephant Economics in the Rough: Modelling Ivory Trade Summary: Trade in ivory is banned under CITES in an effort to protect the African elephant. The trade ban is supported by some range states, most notably Kenya, because they see the ban as an effective means for protecting a ‘flagship’ species, one that attracts tourists and foreign aid. It is opposed by some states, mainly in southern Africa, because their elephant populations are exceeding the capacity of local ecosystems with culling and other sources have resulted in the accumulation of large stocks of ivory. They argue that ivory trade will benefit elephant populations. The question of whether an ivory trade ban will protect elephant populations is addressed in this paper using a dynamic partial-equilibrium model that consists of four ivory exporting regions and a single demand region. Results indicate that a trade ban can be successful in maintaining elephant populations if the ban leads to a stigma effect that reduces demand and increases the marginal costs of marketing ivory. Surprisingly, elephant populations are projected to crash if range states can operate an effective quota scheme that even excludes poaching. However, free trade in ivory can be made to protect the elephant if western countries make effective side payments to range states based on in situ numbers of elephants. Details: Department of Economics Victoria, BC, Canada: University of Victoria, Canada, 2005. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Draft: Accessed August 7, 2012 at: http://web.uvic.ca/econ/research/seminars/Kooten.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://web.uvic.ca/econ/research/seminars/Kooten.pdf Shelf Number: 125900 Keywords: Animal PoachingEconomics of CrimeElephantsIllegal IvoryIllegal TradeWildlife Crime |
Author: Courouble, Marianne Title: More Ivory than Elephants: Domestic Ivory Markets in Three West African Countries Summary: Surveys of African ivory markets in 1999 identified Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Dakar (Senegal) and Lagos (Nigeria) as the most significant ivory carving centres in West Africa (Martin and Stiles, 2000). This report serves to update the situation in these three countries and to assess whether or not any progress has been made in establishing effective control of their domestic ivory markets. The following results stem from field surveys which were conducted by two researchers between 11th-30th June 2002. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2003. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2012 at: www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals24.pdf Year: 2003 Country: Africa URL: Shelf Number: 125984 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife Crime (Africa) |
Author: Gabriel, Grace G. Title: Making a Killing: A 2011 Survey of Ivory Markets in China Summary: An unprecedented surge in ivory seizures occurred in 2011. Media reported that 5,259 elephant tusks were seized worldwide in that year alone, representing the lives of at least 2,629 elephants. In spite of the government’s efforts to regulate the ivory trade, China continues to be the world’s main recipient of smuggled ivory. In 2004 China introduced an ivory product registration and certification system to control the domestic ivory market and to meet the conditions required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) for the purchase of stockpiled ivory from some African countries. In July 2008, the CITES Standing Committee approved of China as a trading partner for the second so-called “one-off ” sale of ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. IFAW has been investigating ivory markets in Asia for the past ten years. Recently we initiated our fifth survey of ivory markets in China. This survey was conducted two and half years after the 62 tonnes of ivory China bought at the CITES approved sale were officially imported in March 2009. The survey was conducted by local experts who both visited physical markets and monitored online marketplaces. The physical market visits were conducted in September and October 2011 in five cities along the eastern seaboard of China. Online marketplaces were monitored for one week in January 2012. In general, the survey found widespread abuse of the ivory trade control system. It became clear that illegal ivory, once smuggled to the country can be laundered freely through the legal market. The legal trade is sustaining and perpetuating a rising demand for elephant ivory. Details: Yarmouth Park, MA: International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2012. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2012 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Making%20a%20Killing.pdf Year: 2012 Country: China URL: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Making%20a%20Killing.pdf Shelf Number: 125995 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeSmugglingWildlife Crime |
Author: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Title: Elephant Conservation, Illegal Killing and Ivory Trade Summary: Illegal killing of elephants for the illegal international trade in ivory is currently a very serious threat to elephant populations in many range States and may be leading to dramatic declines in some populations, particularly in central Africa. Data from the CITES MIKE programme indicate a continuing increase in levels of illegal killing of African elephants since 2006, with 2011 displaying the highest levels since MIKE records began. Similarly, data from the ETIS show a steady increase in levels of illicit ivory trade from 2004 onwards, with a major upsurge in 2009, and 2011 emerging as the worst year ever for large ivory seizures. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), 2012. 29p. Source: Conference Document SC62 Doc. 46.1: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2012 at http://www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/62/E62-46-01.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.cites.org/eng/com/SC/62/E62-46-01.pdf Shelf Number: 126094 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeSmugglingWildlife Crime |
Author: Randolph, Shannon Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Cameroon Case Study Summary: The pilot study presented in this report is part of an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) project initiated by the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The project aims to improve understanding of the impact of elephant meat trade on elephant populations in Central Africa. Case studies were carried out in Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo (ROC) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This Cameroon case study elaborates on bushmeat research already undertaken in the south-eastern Cameroon region by a number of individuals and institutions, but will focus on the African elephant. No studies have ever been carried out that concentrate specifically on elephant bushmeat, and most general bushmeat studies either do not include elephant meat, or treat it differently from other bushmeats because of the atypical aspects associated with elephant hunting and product trade; thus this study hopes to be of particular value to elephant conservation. Details: Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 70p. Source: Supplement to the Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 45: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2012 at http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-001.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Cameroon URL: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-001.pdf Shelf Number: 126104 Keywords: BushmeatElephantsIllegal HuntingWildlife Crime (Cameroon) |
Author: Sekgwama, Jackson John Title: Recommendations for Making Anti-Poaching Programs more Effective in the Southern African Region Through the Analysis of Key Variables Impacting upon the Poaching of Elephants in Botswana Summary: The escalation of poaching in Botswana forced the leadership to deploy its military in addressing this problem. The use of the military in the fight of poaching experienced multiple challenges both at operational and tactical level. The military was deployed in this campaign as a quasi-political decision, thought to be a quick remedy to the poaching dilemma in Botswana. The quasi-political aspect has omitted creation of a national strategy that could comprehensively address the poaching dillema in Botswana and the southern African region, especially that most of the poachers originated from outside the country. Although on one hand it could be argued that the BDF is positively addressing the poaching problem, on the other, it could also be argued that the lack of a clear policy on anti-poaching has hampered the mission. The inefficiency of these campaigns is demonstrated by continued poaching activities in Botswana. This experience has resulted in the realization that Botswana needs to rethink and redefine its national strategy on anti-poaching in order to increase the effectiveness of the intervention means and ways. The national instruments of power need to be comprehensively integrated, synchronized, and harmonized with a view to provide unity of effort in the operational environment to achieve the end state. Once developed, Botswana then needs to work with its neighbors (Zambia and Zimbabwe) in order to ensure that its strategy is effective. Details: Fort Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2012. 108p. Source: Internet Resource: Master's Essay: Accessed November 27, 2012 at: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA562969 Year: 2012 Country: Africa URL: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA562969 Shelf Number: 127011 Keywords: Animal Poaching (Botswana, Africa)CorruptionElephantsSocio-Economic ConditionsWildlife Crime |
Author: Patel, Tricia Title: War Against Poaching in Africa: Learning from our mistakes Summary: The African elephant and rhino have long struggled to maintain their populations, which saw a devastating decline during the 1980s. With commercial poaching running rampant, the eye of the international community fell upon the lack of conservation policies implemented in African nations. Elephants and rhinos became icons of the conservation movement and more significantly, the keystones of Africa’s wildlife safari industry. As a result of declining populations, trade in both animals was regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Despite the value they have to conservationists in the West, the reality is very different for those living next door to these animal populations. Southern African countries have fought hard against a total ban on trade in ivory, for it has the potential to generate much-needed revenue and fund conservation programs. Opponents fear resurgence in commercial poaching for ivory and vehemently resist any relaxation of the ivory ban and their concerns are well founded. Where elephant populations have stabilized, the black rhino has not been so lucky. As a result, non-governmental organizations have tried to implement conservation programs to combat tourism. However, a distinction is rarely made between subsistence poachers who hunt for food and commercial poachers who hunt for economic gain. Additionally, local communities are often misunderstood and portrayed as the enemies of wildlife, but commercial poachers pose a greater threat to wildlife. With the elephant and rhino populations continually being devastated by poaching, some governments have taken extreme anti-poaching measures, even if they come at the cost of fundamental human rights. This paper serves to analyze the differences between subsistence and commercial poaching in the context of African elephant and rhino populations, as well as evaluate previous conservation methods taken with respect to both forms of poaching. First, a history of CITES is provided, along with the relevant regulations that have governed and continue to govern both, the elephant and rhino. Then a comparison of subsistence poaching (including trade in bushmeat), and commercial poaching is discussed, as well as the motivating factors behind both. Additionally, previous conservation methods and anti-poaching strategies are evaluated against recent proposals and subsequent legal repercussions are suggested. It is important to understand the lack of international consensus regarding the elephant and rhino and CITES regulations so that the diverging interests may be better understood. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand the extreme measures that have previously been taken by governments and conservation organizations, so that the same mistakes are not made again. Details: Unpublished Paper, 2010. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2012 at: http://www.elizabethburleson.com/Poaching%20in%20Africa%20by%20Tricia%20Patel.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Africa URL: http://www.elizabethburleson.com/Poaching%20in%20Africa%20by%20Tricia%20Patel.pdf Shelf Number: 127017 Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa)BushmeatElephantsIllegal IvoryRhinosWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |
Author: Milliken, T. Title: The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and the Illicit Trade in Ivory: A report to the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES Summary: Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP15) mandates “a comprehensive report to each meeting of the Conference of the Parties” on the data held in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), one of the two monitoring systems for elephants under CITES. The objectives of ETIS, which has been managed and operated by TRAFFIC since 1997, are: i) measuring and recording levels and trends, and changes in levels and trends, of illegal hunting and trade in ivory in elephant range States, and in trade entrepôts; ii) assessing whether and to what extent observed trends are related to changes in the listing of elephant populations in the CITES appendices and/or the resumption of legal international trade in ivory; iii) establishing an information base to support the making of decisions on appropriate management, protection and enforcement needs; and iv) building capacity in range States. Covering the period 1996 through 2011, this report is the fifth major assessment of the ETIS data for presentation to the CITES Parties, and constitutes TRAFFIC’s reporting obligations for CoP16. This analysis was done in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s University of Reading, where Mr. Robert Burn and Dr. Fiona Underwood refined the analytical methods under a Darwin Initiative project and carried out the data analysis for this report. The interpretation of results, conclusions and recommendations draws particularly on research by and experience of TRAFFIC. Prior to submission to the CITES Secretariat, it was reviewed by members of the ETIS Technical Advisory Group. Further, technical papers on the methods and results of this analysis are being submitted to peer-review journals for publication in the scientific literature. TRAFFIC would like to acknowledge with gratitude the funding support from the United Kingdom’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Darwin Initiative programme, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s African Elephant Conservation Fund, the European Union’s MIKE phase two grant to the CITES Secretariat, and WWF for providing support for the operation and management of ETIS since CoP15, including the production of this report. Details: London: TRAFFIC International, 2012. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: CoP 16 Doc.xx.x: Accessed January 24, 2013 at: http://cites.org/eng/cop/16/doc/E-CoP16-53-02-02.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://cites.org/eng/cop/16/doc/E-CoP16-53-02-02.pdf Shelf Number: 127385 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal HuntingIllegal IvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Nellemann, Christian Title: Elephants in the Dust - The African Elephant Crisis. A Rapid Response Assessment Summary: The African elephant, the largest remaining land mammal on the planet, is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African elephant range states. Results from monitoring and systematic surveys conducted under the UNEP-hosted CITES treaty reveal that poaching levels have tripled in recent years, with several elephants killed every single hour of the day. In Central and West Africa, the elephant may soon disappear from whole areas unless urgent action is taken. Organized syndicates ship several tons of ivory at a time to markets in Asia, and hundreds of elephants are killed for every container sent. Indeed, this report documents nearly a tripling in the number of large-scale ivory seizures by customs authorities, revealing the scale and heavy involvement of international criminal networks that must be addressed. The report, however, also provides optimism if action is taken by governments within Africa and in ivory market countries. Improved law enforcement methods, international collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, the World Customs Organization and INTERPOL and measures to reduce demand can be implemented with success if countries and donors join forces. Indeed, large and previously secure elephant populations in Southern Africa are evidence of the fact that both elephants and their habitats cannot only be well-managed, but, coupled with tourism, can also become a source of income. Improved public awareness is also key. Many people including businessmen and women are often unaware that the ivory they may be exchanging as gifts could have been sourced illegally. Among other awareness activities, UNEP is currently working with its Goodwill Ambassador, actress Li Bingbing, and the City of Shanghai to bring the issue of ivory poaching to the attention of the public. Details: Norway: GRID-Arendal, UNEP, CITES, IUCN, TRAFFIC, 2013. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 11, 2013 at: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/elephants/ Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/elephants/ Shelf Number: 127909 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryOrganized CrimeWildlife CrimeWildlife Management |
Author: Blanc, J.J. Title: African Elephant Status Report 2007: An Update from the African Elephant Database Summary: The AESR 2007 presents the latest information on elephant population estimates and range at the site, national, regional and continental levels. This edition presents some important new features. New tables assist in interpreting the possible reasons why estimates have changed since the previous edition; comparisons are made for methodologically comparable estimates at the regional level; and a system for prioritizing has been developed to guide governments and funding agencies in planning future surveys. Details: Gland, Switzerland: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of nature and Natural Resources, 2007. 276p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.african-elephant.org/aed/pdfs/aesr2007.pdf#nameddest=intro Year: 2007 Country: Africa URL: http://www.african-elephant.org/aed/pdfs/aesr2007.pdf#nameddest=intro Shelf Number: 128057 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (Africa)Wildlife Management |
Author: O'Connell-Rodwell, Caitlin Title: An Assessment of China's Management of Trade in Elephants and Elephant Products Summary: The serious decline of elephants in many Asian and African range countries due to demand for ivory throughout the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in East Asia, resulted in the adoption of various international measures to reduce the threats to elephants. In 1976, the Asian Elephant Elephas maximus was included in Appendix I and the African Elephant Loxodonta africana included in Appendix II of CITES. With continuing declines in populations of the African Elephant, the species was transferred to Appendix I of CITES in 1989, thereby effecting a ban on all commercial international trade in elephants, their parts and derivatives. China took a reservation to the 1989 Appendix I-listing of the African Elephant in order to protect the ivory carving industry, the majority of whose stocks were reported to be pre-Convention stocks (legally obtained prior to China’s accession to CITES). In August of the same year, the CITES Management Authority of China (CNMA) registered a total of 110 importers, exporters and ivory carving workshops, as well as 110 tonnes of raw and worked ivory, most of which was pre-Convention stock. Effective 11 January 1991, China withdrew its reservation and the ban on international commercial trade in ivory took effect in China. Although stocks acquired before the ban were reported to be pre-Convention, analysis of CITES Annual Reports, show that from 1991 to 1999, China exported 571 tusks, 1,006,111 ivory carvings as well as 345 kg of ivory carvings (an additional 9,442,401 ivory carvings were exported in 1990). However, information on the permits and / or the Annual Reports did not record the ‘Source’ of the exports. Of the 566 tusks reported as being exported in 1992, 554 tusks were recorded by China as being from pre-Convention stocks. Japan, however, did not report the import of these tusks - and only 1,769 ivory carvings exported from China from 1991 – 1999 were reported as being pre-Convention stock. The proliferation of safari parks in China since the mid-1990s is reflected in the increasing trend of live elephants imported into China. From 1989 to 2000, China reported the import of a total of 91 live elephants, of which 82 were imported between 1996 and 2000. In addition to the import of live elephants into China, elephants from China are also used for display or performances. Smuggling of live elephants has also been reported, with between five to seven elephants illegally imported from Myanmar in 1995. Not all reported imports appear to have been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. The conservation purposes and benefits of the import, in 1996, of 16 captive bred elephants from Myanmar for ‘Breeding’ are questionable. Perhaps of greater concern is the import, in 2000, of a single shipment of 20 wild elephants from Malaysia for ‘Zoos’. This trade is difficult to justify when there are captive bred specimens which could also have been used for the stated purpose. Furthermore, at least one safari park in China, the Guangzhou Panyu Safari Park, has an animal exchange programme under which it recently exported four red pandas, Ailurus fulgens, to Malacca zoo in Malaysia. It would appear that commercial trade in CITES Appendix I-listed species is being conducted where the profit is ‘in kind’. Seizure information for any illegal products, by its very nature, can only provide an indication of levels of illegal trade. Assessing China’s full role in the illicit ivory trade is exacerbated due to serious deficiencies in China’s seizure reporting system. Data that is available often lacks details on the date, number of pieces and/or weight of the seizure. The actual scale of illicit ivory trade in China therefore is likely to be considerably larger than current data shows. Nonetheless, available data clearly shows that China is a significant consumer of illegal ivory. Based on available data for the period January 1998 to September 2001, a minimum of 30 - 45 tonnes of ivory were seized destined for or entering China. Rhinoceros horn was also intercepted in some shipments from Africa. In addition to illicit ivory in trade, elephant skin reported to be equivalent to 20 elephants, believed to have originated in Myanmar and destined for a medicine manufacturing company in Shanghai was seized in 2000. In 2001, a further 10 tonnes of elephant skin, from an original 15 tonnes purchased in 1993, were seized in a Guangzhou traditional Chinese medicine company. The 15 tonnes were believed to represent 260 elephants. Smaller quantities of elephant skin also were observed by TRAFFIC staff for sale in the border areas of Laos and Myanmar. The state-run ivory carving industry has declined since the international trade ban in 1989 and it is likely that much of the ivory-carving industry now is run through private, and illegal, family operations. The main buyers of ivory are believed to be Chinese nationals, and the prosperous cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing believed to be the main centres of ivory consumption. One vendor in a Beijing outlet visited in 2000 remarked that he could obtain as much new ivory as was required. In general, Chinese nationals mainly purchase ivory at the lower end of the price range, particularly smaller pieces such as jewellery, name chops and chopsticks. China’s emergence as an ivory consumer market, and its potential to develop even further, can be explained, in part, through the growth of China’s private retail sector, the strong and increasing purchasing power of Chinese consumers and weak enforcement of ivory trade regulations within China. Consumer expenditure has surged in recent years and retail sales for jewellery, the most relevant category for ivory for which retail sales statistics in China are available, increased from over USD 360 million (RMB 3 billion) in 1994 to over USD 1.85 billion (RMB 15.3 billion) in 2000. Strong trade links with Africa also shed light on the dynamics of the illegal ivory trade. Seizures of illegally imported ivory from expatriate Chinese returning from Africa and sent by post are common. The China-Africa link supports earlier evidence, documented by TRAFFIC, of Africa-based,Asian-run ivory processing operations which produce semi-worked and worked ivory products for illicit export to selected Asian markets including to China. The majority of ivory in China’s markets is believed to be from African elephants. Illegal ivory imports from Myanmar have been documented, but ivory vendors and carvers expressed a preference for African ivory. Corruption, although a common phenomenon throughout the world, can not be treated lightly: diplomats representing the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have been involved in a number of documented cases of ivory smuggling on a large scale. There is little evidence to suggest that North Korea has a domestic ivory carving industry within its own borders, and all seizure cases involving North Korean diplomats returning ‘home’ with consignments of raw ivory had air tickets which involved a stopover in Beijing, a routing which would make it convenient to move large volumes of ivory into China as diplomatic cargo (T. Milliken, pers. comm., June 2002). Recently an official from airport Customs and a shipping worker from China Air were implicated in a smuggling case of around 14 tonnes of ivory. The involvement of an unnamed ‘organ in China of a foreign country’ in this recent case also was alleged although further details are not available. The Wild Animal Protection Law (1989), the Enforcement Regulations for the Protection of Terrestrial Wildlife of the People’s Republic of China (1992) and the Customs Law (1987) are the principal legal instruments regulating import and export, processing and sale of Asian and African Elephant products. The State Forestry Administration also recently issued Notification 2001/234 urging relevant agencies to pay close attention to illicit ivory trade and established price standards for ivory so that illegal trade could be treated as criminal cases. Some successful enforcement actions have been carried out as reflected in the seizures made by Customs. Successful joint investigations and operations involving a range of relevant agencies also have been carried out on a number occasions. While these efforts are to be commended, so far they have been one-off exercises only and their impact would be greatly increased if carried out on a regular basis. Overall, however, enforcement of legal instruments is weak. Since registration in 1989, no further monitoring of ivory stocks in China has been conducted. Traders are not required to have a specific permit to sell ivory despite the Class I protected status of the African and Asian Elephant and despite the understanding that only vendors that registered in 1989 would be considered legal operators. It is therefore no possible to determine whether ivory seen in the markets of China is derived from stocks registered in 1989 or whether it has been more recently, and thus illegally, acquired. Implementation of legislation is hindered by a lack of inter-agency communication, overlapping responsibilities of government agencies and the consequent lack of clarity as to which agency is responsible for implementing which aspects of the law. This situation is particularly apparent with regard to the disposal of products confiscated from illegal trade. It is not clear which agency is responsible for holding confiscated stocks and whether confiscated ivory is kept in storage, destroyed or released / sold on to the domestic market. Details: TRAFFIC East Asia, 2002. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: TRAFFIC Online Report Series No.3: Accessed March 21, 2013 at: http://www.traffic.org/mammals/ Year: 2002 Country: China URL: http://www.traffic.org/mammals/ Shelf Number: 128059 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (China)Wildlife Management |
Author: Milliken, Tom Title: No Peace for Elephants: Unregulated domestic ivory markets in Angola and Mozambique Summary: Recent reports suggest that Angola is fast emerging as an important country in the illegal trade in African Elephant Loxodonta africana ivory (Milliken et al., 2004). For the most part, however, the country’s wildlife trade remains poorly understood. Owing to a prolonged civil war that only ended with the signing of a peace agreement on 4 April 2002, there have been no systematic surveys of Angola’s wildlife resources for over three decades. This study marks a first attempt to conduct a spot check and assess the ivory trade in Luanda, Angola’s bustling capital and major port city on the Atlantic Ocean. From 4 to 10 June 2005, TRAFFIC researchers visited retail outlets and craft markets in and around Luanda to collect information on the amount of ivory available for sale, ivory prices and sources, and other trade dynamics. As information relating to Angola’s legislation on the hunting of elephants and trade in ivory was not readily available, investigating the current legal status of the species and trade in elephant products was an important aspect of the survey. The following results derive from this effort: • The Government of Angola, through its National Assembly, formally approved the country’s membership in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on 17 January 2001, however, this decision has yet to be gazetted. Moreover, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has failed to file an instrument of accession with the Swiss Government, the requisite procedure for becoming a member of the Convention. Finally, it remains unclear to what extent the Angolan authorities have apprised the CITES Secretariat of these developments and sought guidance to complete the process. Consequently, with the accession of Lesotho to CITES on 30 December 2003, Angola now remains the only southern African country that is not a Party to CITES. • Current legislation relating to the hunting of elephants and the trade in elephant products in Angola dates back half a century to the colonial era with Decree 40.040 of 1955 and Decree 2:873 of 1957. The fees relating to the issuance of hunting licences and penalties for the illegal killing of animals, however, have subsequently been updated, most recently through Decree 36/99 of 1999. Regardless, there is an urgent need to review and update the substance of Angola’s legislation that relates to wildlife in general and wildlife trade and CITES in particular. • Implementation and enforcement responsibilities for the country’s wildlife laws lie principally with the Institute of Forestry Development in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Regardless, very little, if any, meaningful enforcement has taken place in recent years, largely as a result of the absence of political will within government and a lack of human capacity and resources. • Despite legislation stating that the possession of ivory without proper documentation is illegal, a total of 41 retail outlets were observed selling ivory products that collectively were estimated to weigh a total of 1 573.4 kg during this survey. About 90% of this ivory was found at the Mercado do Artesanato (Artists’ Market) at Benfica, south of Luanda. • Little information was gathered on the presence and operation of ivory carving workshops in Luanda, but it appears that most local craftsmen work from their homes. Further, it appears that significant quantities of ivory are being carved in neighbouring Congo Basin countries to the north and routinely imported into the Angolan market in violation of CITES. • Observations of local conservationists and long-term residents suggest that the ivory trade in Luanda has increased dramatically in recent years, possibly doubling in scale within the last year. By the same token, the majority of retail traders indicated that Luanda represented a growing market for ivory products, and that such business was generally good. • Raw ivory appears to be relatively easy to acquire for vendors in the main market, with prices ranging from USD35 per kg up to USD100 per kg. While it is likely that some of this ivory is derived from Angolan elephants, the majority of the stock is believed to originate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The high proportion of French-speaking traders in Luanda’s principal ivory market further suggests a strong link with the ivory trade in Francophone countries in Central Africa immediately to the north of Angola, particularly DRC and Congo (Brazzaville). • There is no evidence to suggest that the conditions noted in Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP12) for the control of internal trade in ivory are being met or implemented in Angola. As a non-Party to the Convention, the country is under no formal obligation to CITES in this regard. Still, the continued trade in ivory has serious implications for Angola’s remaining elephant populations, which are thought to be small and highly fragmented (Blanc et al., 2003). Further, the current trade is believed to involve a persistent illegal importation of unprocessed elephant tusks and worked ivory products from neighbouring countries that are Parties to CITES. • Angolan authorities responsible for developing policy and enforcing legislation in the wildlife sector showed a genuine enthusiasm to address ivory trade issues. The desire to better monitor and protect the country’s remaining elephant populations, however, faces two significant obstacles. Firstly, the political will of senior politicians remains very much focused on social issues and rebuilding the collapsed infrastructure of the nation in the post-war period, rather than with the environment in general and wildlife in particular. This sector remains a remote secondary concern on the national agenda of priorities. Secondly, environmental institutions in Angola remain very weak and the capacity of the wildlife authorities to carry out their duties is routinely circumscribed by a lack of human and material resources. • There is a need for a protracted programme of external support to assist Angolan wildlife authorities in their efforts to build strong environmental institutions from which to protect and manage the country’s wildlife resources. Assisting Angola to complete the interrupted process of accession to CITES would be an important first step in this regard. Reviewing and updating Angola’s antiquated wildlife legislation is called for, as well as a broad programme of capacity-building and training for law enforcement personnel, including police and Customs officers. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2006. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: TRAFFIC Online Report Series No.11: Accessed March 21, 2013 at: http://www.traffic.org/mammals/ Year: 2006 Country: Mozambique URL: http://www.traffic.org/mammals/ Shelf Number: 128060 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (Mozambique)Wildlife Management |
Author: Wright, Belinda Title: Simlipal Tiger Reserve; Assessment of Recent Elephants Poaching and Protection Initiatives Summary: Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is part of one of the largest contiguous tiger and elephant habitats in the world. With a Biosphere Area of over 5,000 sq km, it is one of the most promising landscapes for tigers and their prey species. After a number of elephant deaths were reported in April and May 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) constituted an independent assessment team on 3rd June 2010. The two-team members proceeded immediately to Simlipal to visit the Tiger Reserve from 6 to 11 June 2010. We made the following observations. ! From the evidence, we confirmed seven elephant deaths, all of which have most likely been killed by poachers. ! In some of the cases the field staff were aware of the elephant deaths but chose not to report them; rather they deliberately attempted to conceal the elephant deaths/poaching incidents, by destroying the evidence. ! At least six of the elephant deaths might never have been exposed had it not been for the local informers and two courageous and determined conservationists from Mayurbhanj District. ! Very little animal presence was noted. We did not see a single tusker (for which Simlipal is renowned) or fresh elephant dung, even though we travelled over 100 km a day, at all hours. ! The Forest Staff appeared to be thoroughly unmotivated and demoralized. ! There have been regular incursions of tribal mass-hunting groups of 100 to 200 people entering the Park for over a year. While we were there, at least three such groups entered the Park on 7, 9, and 11 June 2010. ! Forest staff can only try and persuade the hunters to turn back with “folded hands” since they do not have armed support; all arms have been withdrawn in view of the continuing threat from the Maoists. ! After last year’s concerted attack on the forest infrastructure, many of the protection beat houses in the National Park are yet to be re-occupied. ! Due to a new system of dual jurisdiction, by creation of the post of Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF), the Field Director no longer has control over three DFOs that manage1,555 sq km of the Buffer Zone. ! The Park’s senior management has not exercised tight control and supervision over the field staff due to insufficient visits to the Parks. ! There is little interaction with local tribal communities living inside and on the periphery of the Park thereby leading to distrust and lack of support to the Department. We have detailed 25 recommendations, which we have tried to keep as practical and implementable as possible. They include a strong recommendation to implement the advice of a previous NTCA team that visited Simlipal in August 2009. Our recommendations that are considered to be of “Immediate Priority” are: 1. Action against field staff for concealment of elephant deaths and destruction of evidence; 2. An independent monitoring committee should be formed by NTCA; 3. A wildlife crime intelligence gathering system should be started; 4. Special drive to seize country-made guns; 5. Protection Funds should not be re-allocated; 6. Funds to DFOs for enforcement raids; 7. Vacant Deputy Director and 2 ACF posts to be immediately filled; 8. Park management to exercise greater supervision and control; 9. Confidentiality of wireless messages should be maintained; and 10. Enlist local community support from peripheral areas bordering the Park. Details: National Tiger Conservation Authority, 2010. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Simlipal_Report_June_2010_FINAL2.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India URL: http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Simlipal_Report_June_2010_FINAL2.pdf Shelf Number: 128101 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crimes (India) |
Author: Rangarajan, Mahesh Title: Gajah: Securing the Future for Elephants in India. The Report of the Elephant Task Force Summary: Securing a future for the elephant in India, its continued survival in the wild and its humane care in captivity constitute a major challenge. They call for drawing on the best in our communities of knowledge and governance. The Task Force is crystal clear on one point. India can secure the future for Gajah and its forest home. It will be a challenge but one we possess the ability to surmount, provided we have the will, demonstrate the wisdom and deploy the means necessary. It is not immediate extinction as much as attrition of living spaces and the tense conditions of the human-elephant encounter on the ground that require redress. As a long lived and sociable animal familiar to all of us since childhood, elephants may seem to require little help. But the shrinking of habitat and the selective killing off of tuskers in key populations by ivory poachers are cause for grave concern. Elephants in captivity are close to our hearts but there are times standards fall short of the humane treatment and welfare they are surely entitled to. Their care givers, Mahouts and veterinary doctors too need recognition and better amenities. Project Elephant has, since 1992, done much commendable work. But its successes notwithstanding, it needs more than an accretion of resources. Elephant habitats are under immense pressure. Rapid economic expansion and development pressures require far more attention to land use plans from an ecological perspective. New knowledge needs to be brought to bear in population and habitat assessment. Above all, systems of mitigation to alleviate human-elephant conflict need to re-energise and be made much more accountable. To accomplish this requires administrative overhaul and better machinery. The Task Force strongly favours new institutions and mechanisms to achieve these wider objectives. We need a new National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) on the lines of the structure for tiger conservation. Nestled with it will be a new Consortium of Elephant Research and Estimation (CERE) who will develop and apply the best methods for enumeration. Transparency of methods and results will uphold standards and inculcate a scientific temper. Along with similar changes at the state level, there will be a new category of Elephant Landscapes. These, ten in number will include the existing and proposed 32 Elephant Reserves. While no new reserves are proposed, there will be a consolidation of the existing reserves. Over 40 per cent of the Elephant Reserves is not under Protected Area or government forest. The Task Force favours Ecologically Sensitive Area status under the Environment Protection Act to regulate activity that may be ecologically negative. Elephant Corridors that link critical populations had already been identified prior to the Task Force by scientists, administrators and reputed voluntary organizations. We have now ranked the Elephant Corridors according to priority and feasibility for action. Our main emphasis is on innovative methods to secure habitats beyond the Protected Areas. These could include Community or Conservation Reserves, Ecosystem Services payments and conservation easements. Protected Area expansion can also be considered but so too can other measures. These will forge partnerships and reinforce alliances for conservation at ground level. It is vital to stress that elephant conservation is about combining quality of land use. While securing viable habitats, there has to be accommodation in other zones, to enable wildlife and people to be compatible. The increased financial outlay of Rs. 600 crore over the 12th Five Year Plan period has sound logic to back it up. A third of the allocation will be to secure vital habitats that serve as links between populations that may be cut off. Rather than land acquisition which is often conflict prone, we propose a range of other instruments from conservation easements to Community Reserves. Similarly, human-elephant conflict requires urgent redress, and not only for making good loss of crops or homes. It requires preventive measures that can be monitored, verified and held accountable. One sixth of resources asked for are earmarked for conflict issues. The Task Force favours a permanent and continuing mission in high conflict zones, with innovative methods to alleviate tragic loss of life of both humans and animals. Conflict Management Task Forces can commence work in known zones of high conflict. These will include experienced foresters, scientists, wildlife vets, and social scientists. Elephant human conflict is a wider phenomenon than these foci of high conflict. Mandatory taluka-level hearings at different times in the sowing and harvesting season in all conflict areas can bring together affected citizens, officials and elected representatives. Given the Elephant Reserves cover 65,000 square kilometres and that this is a vital input into larger land use planning, the proposed outlay is necessary and justifiable. The Task Force appreciates need for transparency. 50 Crores is for research, monitoring and study vital for sound policy. It has suggested specific ways to bring elected representatives and those with domain knowledge in close and continuing contact with local citizens through appropriate forum. Elephant Reserve Committees will enable redress, consultation and transparency. Bringing science, administration and applied social science together is the key. Protection in the wild with conflict management to help both humans and elephants will demand Herculean effort. So will upgrading care of elephants in captivity, with Citizens Elephant Welfare Committees. Assuring Gajah a future for tomorrow will require resources today, whether living space or funds, the application of the best of technical and scientific knowledge or the fashioning of responses that makes partners of citizens who live in proximity with the species. science with humane administration. A mobile mega herbivore, Elephas maximus is often in sharp indirect or direct conflict with our own patterns Details: Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2010. 187p. Source: Internet Resource: Accesssed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/ETF_REPORT_FINAL.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India URL: http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/ETF_REPORT_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 128112 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crimes (India)Wildlife Management |
Author: Blake, Stephen: Wildlife Conservation Society Title: Central african Forests: Final Report on Population Surveys (2003-2004) Summary: In 1997, at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Conv ention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Parties resolved to establish a monitoring system across the entire range of the African and Asian elephants [Resolution Conf. 10.10]. It was intended that this system would facilitate decision -making by the Parties regarding the protected status of elephants. This was also the first attempt to provide a systematic and detailed assessment of the impact of the Parties’ decisions to allow, restrict, or suspend trade in a particular species (and/or its parts and derivatives). The monitoring system, now known by its acronym MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants), was endorsed at the 41 st meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in February 1999, and between 1999 and 2001 a Pilot Program, funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Conservation Society was implemented in central Africa to assess the feasibility of full scale implementation of the program in forest ecosystems (Beyers et al. 2001). During implementation of the pilot program and in the light of some lessons already being learned, the goals and structure of the MIKE program was discussed again at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2000, which led to a revision of Resolution Conf. 10.10, and the objectives previously agreed were broadened to include ‘establishing an information base to support the making of decisions on appropriate management, protection and enforcement needs’ and ‘building capacity in range States’. The MIKE program currently has the following aim: ‘To provide information needed for elephant range States to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for the lo ng-term management of their elephant populations.’ More specific objectives within this aim are: (1) ‘To measure levels and trends in the illegal hunting of elephants’, (2) ‘To determine changes in these trends over time’, and (3) ‘To determine the factors causing such changes and to assess to what extent observed trends are related to CITES changes in listings or ivory trade resumptions’ (www.cites.org/eng/prog/MIKE). The MIKE program plans to achieve these objective through a site-based system of collecting data on elephant population trends, the incidence and patterns of illegal killing, and the effort and resources employed in detecting and preventing illegal hunting and trade. The MIKE program is also charged with developing and using a standardized methodology for data collection and analysis. The pilot project, which focussed on three sites, the Lope Ituri, and Odzala protected areas in Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) demonstrated that implementation of MIKE in forests was indeed feasible, and a fullscale program involving 55 sites across Africa was initiated thereafter. The plan is to repeat surveys in each site every 2–3 years. Within the range of forest elephants in central Africa 11 sites were chosen, each based around a protected area. This document reports on progress made toward achieving forest elephant population surveys during 2003-2004 at six MIKE sites in five nations within the range of forest elephants in central Africa (Figure 2). Sites included were Salonga, Bangassou, Dzanga - Sangha, Nouabalé -Ndoki, Boumba Bek, and Minkebe. An elephant inventory was also planned for Mont Alen in Equatorial Guinea, though for funding reasons this site was eventually excluded. Details: Washington, DC: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2005. 122p. Source: Internet Resource: Long Term System for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE): Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.cites.org/common/prog/mike/survey/central_africa_survey03-04.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Africa URL: http://www.cites.org/common/prog/mike/survey/central_africa_survey03-04.pdf Shelf Number: 128125 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crimes (Africa)Wildlife Management |
Author: Born Free Foundation and the Elephant Working Group of the Species Survival Title: The Tip of the Tusk Summary: The data provided in this report, a compilation of the information collected since 1998, provides compelling evidence that the illegal ivory trade is thriving, and that elephants continue to be poached for their ivory. Analysis of the data shows that between 1998 and 2004 at least 95.3 tonnes of ivory have been reported seized and, in addition, more than 12,591 elephants (Asian and African) have been reported poached. Ninety-five tonnes roughly represents the ivory of more than 15,000 dead elephants. However, it is widely accepted that not all illegal ivory in trade is seized and not all poached elephants are found and reported; hence these figures represent just the ‘tip of the tusk’ in terms of the scale of illegal trade in ivory and level of elephant poaching. Indeed, Born Free Foundation has received many reports involving poaching and trade, that for one reason or another could not be included. For example, we have information concerning more than 19,420 pieces of seized ivory which were either unweighed, or where weights were not reported. There are also a significant number of countries from which no information was received (identified in Appendix A). Recent surveys investigating the availability and volume of ivory found in the markets located in Africa, Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan have also demonstrated that an ivory industry is still thriving. The threat that illegal trade brings, particularly to those elephant populations which are under the greatest pressure, such as those in Asia and West and Central Africa, is of grave concern to all those involved in the protection and conservation of elephants. Details: Horsham, UK: Born Free Foundation; 2004. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2013 at: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/files/reports/IvoryReport.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Africa URL: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/files/reports/IvoryReport.pdf Shelf Number: 128135 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife Crimes (Africa, Asia) |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Stop Stimulating Demand: Discussion of ivory trade mechanism may itself spur consumer-demand & poaching Summary: The campaigning Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on international policy-makers to Stop Stimulating Demand for critically endangered species. THE determination by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to develop a decision-making mechanism (DMM) for a process of future trade in ivory was adopted in 2007 before the escalation of the current crisis facing elephant populations across most of their range. Having started a year later in 2008, this process is now taking place against a backdrop of the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trade for decades and is set to con-tinue unless urgent action is taken by the 16th Meeting of the Confer-ence of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) in March 2013. Details: London: EIA, 2013. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Ivory-trade-mechanism-briefing-FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Ivory-trade-mechanism-briefing-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 128159 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeWildlife Crimes |
Author: INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme Title: Project Web: An Investigation Into the Ivory Trade Over the Internet Within the European Union Summary: INTERPOL’s Project Web was launched following studies by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which concluded that elephant ivory is the most widely traded wildlife product over the Internet. Project Web is intended to provide an initial snapshot and insight from a law enforcement perspective into the drivers, scale, nature, and involved entities of the illegal trade in ivory over the Internet. Over a period of two weeks, ten participating countries from the European Union (EU) conducted surveillance of their national auction sites to identify advertisements for ivory items. The details of 660 advertisements on 61 auction sites were analysed and estimated to have a total volume of around 4,500 kilograms of ivory and a total value of approximately EUR 1,450,000. Through analysis of its two week Internet surveillance data, Project Web found that ivory is predominantly sold by individuals residing in the country where they are selling the item, although a number of advertisements did have international links. Enforcement data from other sources was also analysed, but often could only provide a limited representative picture of the total volume of ivory illegally imported into the EU. In particular, Project Web identified through customs seizure analysis that the majority of ivory sold was in the form of worked items shipped from mainly four African countries. The ivory was predominantly traded through EU countries, with Asia as the destination. However, three EU countries and North America were also identified as common final destinations. The report also demonstrated that the enforcement of this electronic trade is in its infancy and presents new challenges. Few Internet companies have policies governing the sale of ivory, and those that do have weaknesses in enforcing their own regulations. Law enforcement participants also identified a lack of legislation as a weakness, specifically that governing the Internet trade of ivory and other wildlife products, and cited a lack of prioritisation at departmental and political levels. This can lead to the combination of a strongly profit driven illicit market with little risk of detection or prosecution. While Project Web demonstrates that the Internet is being used in the ivory trade, the extent to which the Internet is an important medium in the illegal trade cannot be conclusively determined with the existing legislation and available data. However, it is clear that specially adapted legislation and strong collaboration with customs is needed to further investigate this crime type, in order to determine the scale and nature of the illegal trade so that appropriate enforcement measures can be taken against it. To this end, the Project Web report also includes a number of recommendations to improve responses to the illegal trade of wildlife products online. Details: Washington, DC: International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Project%20Web%20-%20PUBLIC.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Project%20Web%20-%20PUBLIC.pdf Shelf Number: 128207 Keywords: Computer CrimesElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeInternet CrimesIvoryWildlife Crimes |
Author: Thornton, Allan Title: Lethal Experiment: How the CITES-approved ivory sale led to increased elephant poaching Summary: The CITES process in 1997, and subsequently, has been plagued by a lack of transparency, mismanagement and inadequate consultation with elephant range states (the majority of which opposed downlisting). The CITES ivory experiment has failed. Elephant poaching levels have risen in a number of range states since 1997. The CITES international monitoring system to monitor the illegal killing of elephants (MIKE) was not in operation prior to the decision and is non-functional. Japan is a thriving market for illegal ivory, with an inadequate system for controlling imports and sales within the country. Details: London: Environmental Investigation Agency, 2000. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Lethal-Experiment.pdf Year: 2000 Country: Africa URL: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Lethal-Experiment.pdf Shelf Number: 128334 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Animal TradeIvory SmugglingWildlife Crimes (Africa, Japan) |
Author: Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux Title: Wildlife and Poaching Assessment in Northeast Gabon: Preliminary results Summary: A tidal wave of elephant poaching is currently sweeping across Africa. Recent results suggest that forest elephant numbers in DRC are below 10,000-15,000 and that the Republic of Congo has lost 50% of its elephants in the last 10 years. Today Gabon, which represents just 13% of Africa’s rain forests, contains over half the surviving forest elephants (Maisels et al. in review). However, even in Gabon there are more and more reports of ivory poaching as world black market prices soar. As ANPN has become more and more effective on the ground over the last three years more and more poachers have been arrested and ivory seized. In 2011 the Gabonese National Parks Agency (Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux / ANPN) and the Gabonese military moved just over 6,000 gold miners out of several illegal gold camps in the Minkebe National Park and its buffer zone. These camps had grown exponentially in size over the previous 2-3 years in response to soaring gold prices as well as the high production of the gold mines, to the point where it represented a threat to national security. In addition to gold mining and trading it was noted that severe elephant poaching and other illegal activities such as arms and drugs trafficking were associated with these camps and encouraged by traders (Mike Fay and Richard Ruggiero, trip report). In 2004, a survey of Minkebe National Park, Gabon, showed that it supported the most important forest elephant population in Africa, estimated at around 21,000 individuals (17,000-26800) (MIKE 2005). Working with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Wildlife Conservation Society, ANPN launched a survey of Minkebe National Park and its buffer zone in October 2012. The objective was to assess wildlife abundance and human impact across the area and in particular to assess the impacts of the dramatic surge in elephant poaching over recent years. Details: Libreville, Gabon: Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux, 2013. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 30, 2013 at: http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Preliminary_Results_of_Minkebe_Pilot_Study_070213.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Gabon URL: http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/Preliminary_Results_of_Minkebe_Pilot_Study_070213.pdf Shelf Number: 128876 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife Crime (Gabon) |
Author: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Title: Status of African elephant populations and levels of illegal killing and the illegal trade in ivory: A report to the African Elephant Summit Summary: The IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) works with the two CITES-mandated elephant monitoring systems: the programme for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), managed by the CITES Secretariat, and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), managed by TRAFFIC, to bring together updated and critical information and data on elephants, poaching and the illegal ivory trade in an integrated manner. Consolidated reports, including inputs on Asian elephants from the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, on legal ivory trade by UNEP-WCMC, and implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan, have been provided to the 61st and 62nd meeting of the Standing Committee to CITES. These updates, along with the 2013 report, "Elephants in the Dust" have provided comprehensive and up to date information to elephant conservationists, managers, and policy makers. This update includes data from 2012 on elephant populations, levels of illegal killing, and levels of illegal trade in ivory. The results of this analysis show that levels of poaching and the illegal ivory trade started to increase again in the mid-2000s, following an easing in the 1990s, the rate of increase jumping dramatically from 2009. The overall trend appears to be leveling off in 2012 compared to 2011, but at an unsustainably high level. The MIKE analysis suggests that 15,000 elephants were illegally killed at the 42 monitored MIKE sites in 2012. The estimated poaching rate of 7.4% in 2012 remains at an unsustainably high level, as it exceeds natural population growth rates (usually no more than 5%). Likewise, the ETIS analysis shows a slight leveling off in the bias-adjusted trend for illegal ivory in 2012. However, a number of countries have not yet reported their 2012 seizures. The overall weight and number of large-scale ivory seizures (more than 500kg) in 2013 exceeds any previous year in the ETIS data. These data have not been bias-adjusted, and the increase may reflect enhancement of law enforcement effort, or could signify an increase in overall levels of illegal trade. With the high levels of poaching being observed through the MIKE programme, the amount of illegal ivory in trade should be expected to remain high. Poverty and weak governance in elephant range States, together with demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations, are the three key factors identified by repeated MIKE analyses, including this one, as being most strongly associated with observed poaching trends. Monitoring of elephant populations, apart from at a few well-monitored sites, is sporadic and inconsistent. The low precision of most estimates makes it difficult to detect any immediate repercussion on elephant numbers in the short-term but this does not mean there are no changes. While it remains to be seen whether the situation is stabilizing, it is clear that international cooperation on law enforcement and public awareness is vital. Improved monitoring is also essential to allow informed decision-making. There is a need for continued and improved reporting to the MIKE and ETIS programmes, as well as improved and more frequent monitoring of elephant populations, including carcass counts wherever possible. The new annual reporting requirement for CITES Parties to provide information on national ivory stockpiles will also provide much-needed information. Details: Geneva: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2014 at Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/african_elephant_summit_background_document_2013_en.pdf Shelf Number: 131773 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryOrganized CrimeWildlife CrimeWildlife Management |
Author: Vira, Varun Title: Ivory's Curse: The Militarization and Professionalization of Poaching in Africa Summary: It has been a quarter century since Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) placed all African elephants on Appendix I, thus eliminating commercial trade in elephant ivory. This uniform global prohibition on ivory commercialization demonstrably reduced elephant poaching, helped elephant populations to stabilize, dried up some ivory markets, and essentially made it taboo to acquire elephant ivory. All elephant ivory is bloody ivory. Since then, some southern African countries, namely Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, have relentlessly pursued the reopening of the ivory trade. After exerting significant political pressure, they have succeeded in securing sales of stockpiled ivory to China and Japan. This inexplicable backpedal on the international ivory trade ban has stimulated markets, demand, and ultimately elephant poaching, to supply the trade. Download Ivory's Curse Report Download Acrobat PDF The bloody ivory trade was renewed. In recent years, however, it has been revealed that significant criminal syndicates and organized terrorist gangs have engaged in elephant poaching to acquire ivory, which they sell for arms to ply their deadly activities. Born Free USA, seeking an accurate and complete picture of the depths of this nefarious activity, commissioned C4ADS and its expert defense analysts to examine the military, national security, and localized conflict aspects of elephant poaching and the ivory trade to reveal, in detail, the threats to elephants across Africa. Ivory's Curse: The Militarization and Professionalization of Poaching in Africa was released April 21, and its findings are truly alarming. - From Sudan, government-allied militias complicit in the Darfur genocide fund their operations by poaching elephants hundreds of miles outside North Sudan's borders. - In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, state security forces patronize the very rebels they are supposed to fight, providing them with weapons and support in exchange for ivory. - Zimbabwean political elites, including those under international sanction, are seizing wildlife spaces that either are, or are likely to soon be, used as covers for poaching operations. - In East Africa, al-Shabaab and Somali criminal networks are profiting off of Kenyan elephants killed by poachers using weapons leaked from local security forces. - Mozambican organized crime has militarized and consolidated to the extent that it is willing to battle the South African army and well-trained ranger forces for rhino horn. - In Gabon and the Republic of Congo, ill-regulated forest exploitation is bringing East Asian migrant laborers, and East Asian organized crime, into contact with Central Africa's last elephants. - In Tanzania, political elites have aided the industrial-scale depletion of East Africa's largest elephant population. Born Free USA will use this significant, timely, and shocking report to encourage legislators, conservation authorities, and defense agencies to focus their attention, resources, and efforts on the elephant poaching hotspots we've identified, and exert appropriate pressure at all levels to stop the bloody ivory trade. The scourge of elephant poaching has reached crisis - historically shocking - levels, with an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 elephants poached per year. As a result, certain populations of African elephants are now vulnerable to extinction and may not withstand these poaching thresholds much longer. And, when these elephants disappear, if ivory markets are not eliminated, demand will lead poaching operations further south, attacking the southern African elephant populations, as well. Immediate, robust, and unequivocal action is required if we are to beat back the elephant murderers and ivory profiteers. The brutality of elephant poaching - entire families gunned down, individual animals' faces sawed in two to extract the coveted ivory tusks - should be enough to persuade a global crackdown on the ivory trade. But, the Born Free USA-commissioned Ivory's Curse adds substantial firepower to the argument, and should end the debate. This report should convince anyone who cares about elephants - or the people who are similarly subjected to violence and bloodshed - that the bloody ivory trade must end, once and for all. Details: Washington, DC: Born Free, 2014. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads/pdf/Ivorys-Curse-2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads/pdf/Ivorys-Curse-2014.pdf Shelf Number: 132183 Keywords: Animal PoachingCriminal NetworksElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeOrganized CrimeWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |
Author: Anderson, Bradley Title: Wildlife Poaching: Africa's Surging Trafficking Threat Summary: Surging demand for ivory and rhino horn, mainly in Asia, has put wild African elephants and rhinoceroses on the path to extinction. More than an environmental tragedy, however, wildlife poaching and trafficking has exacerbated other security threats and led to the co-option of certain African security units. African states need to develop a broad range of law enforcement capabilities to tackle what is effectively a transnational organized crime challenge. Asian and other international partners, meanwhile, must take action to reduce runaway demand for wildlife products. Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2014. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 28: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/AfricaBriefFinal_28.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/AfricaBriefFinal_28.pdf Shelf Number: 132269 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryRhinocerosWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: Blood e-Commerce: Rakuten's profits from the slaughter of elephants and whales Summary: The Rakuten Group, via its wholly owned Japanese subsidiary Rakuten Ichiba (www.rakuten.co.jp), is the world's largest online trader in elephant ivory and whale products. Rakuten Ichiba sells thousands of elephant ivory products, made from the tusks of African elephants that are currently being slaughtered at the rate of up to 50,000 a year in the worst ever poaching crisis. Hundreds of whale products, including endangered fin whale from Iceland and products from the whale and dolphin drive hunts in Taiji featured in the documentary The Cove, are also being sold on Rakuten Ichiba. It is the biggest known online retailer of elephant ivory and cetacean products in the world. The Rakuten Group, through Rakuten Ichiba, is directly responsible for these sales and is therefore directly profiting from the killing of elephants and whales. In recent years, international condemnation of Japan's whale and dolphin hunts, along with concerns about pollution and food safety, have led Japan's leading supermarket chains - AEON, Ito-Yokado, Seiyu and Uny - to prohibit the sale of whale or dolphin products in thousands of stores. Japan's leading seafood companies Maruha, Kyokuyo and Nippon Suisan have all ended the production of canned whale meat and other frozen whale products. Two major online retailers - Amazon and Google - have followed suit, stopping all sales or advertisements of whale, dolphin and ivory though their Japanese e-commerce sites. Rakuten must do the same. In June 2013, a search for 'whale meat' on www.rakuten.co.jp yielded 773 whale products for sale, while the broader term 'whale' generated over 1,200 food products. Many of these originated from baleen whales, namely fin, sei, minke and Bryde's whale, which are all protected species under the moratorium on commercial whaling established by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1986. These species are also afforded the highest level of protection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade. Despite this, a number of companies were selling endangered fin whale imported from Iceland. Many products were from toothed cetacean species (known as 'small cetaceans'), namely Baird's beaked whales and pilot whales. A further 14 products were not listed with a species name, contrary to the requirements of Japan's labelling laws. Some of the whale products sold by Rakuten Ichiba are highly polluted with mercury and pose a significant risk to the health of consumers. Scientists have documented mercury levels more than 1,000 times higher than the Government of Japan's safe advisory level in species caught in Japanese coastal waters. Nine whale products were purchased from Rakuten Ichiba in 2013 and tested for mercury. Eight of these exceeded the Japanese national limit for total mercury concentration of 0.4 parts per million (ppm), with one sample of pilot whale meat having a shocking mercury concentration of 9.5 ppm, more than 20 times higher than the Japanese regulatory limit. The average mercury level of the nine products was 4.2 ppm, more than 10 times higher than the regulatory limit. In February 2014, searches for 'ivory' on www.rakuten.co.jp yielded more than 28,000 ads for elephant ivory products, indicating that a significant demand for elephant ivory persists in Japan. Items found include name seals, jewellery, musical instruments, accessories and chopsticks. Over 95 percent of products available were name seals, or 'hankos', used by individuals and companies to sign documents with their signatures engraved into the ivory. Much of Japan's trade in ivory hankos is supported by illegal African elephant ivory - between 2005-10, illegal ivory accounted for up to 87 per cent of the ivory hankos produced in Japan. Japan also has a specific demand for 'hard ivory' from Central Africa's endangered forest elephants and there are many hard ivory products available for sale on Rakuten Ichiba. In response to devastating poaching levels in the 1980s, the international ban on elephant ivory trade went into effect after the 1989 CITES Appendix I listing of African elephants, leading to a dramatic reduction of elephant poaching across much of Africa as ivory prices plummeted. However, the ban was undermined when CITES later approved two international sales of African ivory, first to Japan in 1999 and then to Japan and China in 2008. Existing legal domestic markets in countries such as Japan continue to fuel the demand for ivory. Japan's domestic ivory controls have failed to comply with the requirements of CITES to effectively control the trade in ivory and prevent poached ivory from entering the domestic market. Large numbers of poached ivory tusks have been laundered into Japan's domestic market as a result. Africa's elephants are being rapidly wiped out by poaching to meet the escalating demand for trinkets made from their tusks. By listing ivory products for sale, Rakuten Ichiba is helping to stimulate the market for ivory products in Japan and perpetuate illegal ivory flows and the poaching of elephants. Prominent internet retailers such as Amazon, Google and eBay have banned the sale of elephant ivory on all their controlled sites, including their Japanese sites. The Rakuten Group should follow suit and become part of the solution rather than contributing to the poaching epidemic. As the Rakuten Group directly profits from Rakuten Ichiba's sale of elephant and whale products, it is responsible not only for facilitating the sale of products from endangered and protected species but also for allowing the sale of food products which are highly contaminated with mercury and a health threat to the people consuming them. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on the Rakuten Group and its global affiliates and subsidiaries, including Rakuten Ichiba, to immediately enact a permanent ban on the sale of all elephant, whale and dolphin products. Details: London: EIA, 2014. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2014 at http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Blood-e-Commerce-FINAL.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Blood-e-Commerce-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132409 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeOnline CrimeOnline TransactionsWhalesWildlife Crimes |
Author: Agger, Kasper Title: Kony's Ivory: How Elephant Poaching in Congo Helps Support the Lord's Resistance Army Summary: Kasper Agger and Jonathan Hutson traveled to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2013. In Garamba they were hosted by African Parks, which has the jurisdiction to manage the park and its surroundings under a management agreement with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, or ICCN. Recommendations about how to more effectively combat the Lord's Resistance Army are made in this report. All actions within Garamba and its surroundings, however, need to be approved by and in coordination with African Parks and the ICCN. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2013. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 3, 2014 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/KonysIvory.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/KonysIvory.pdf Shelf Number: 132616 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Management |
Author: Doak, Naomi Title: Polishing Off the Ivory: Surveys of Thailand's Ivory Market Summary: Elephants are revered in Thailand and, as an important part of the country's identity, they are an integral part of Thai beliefs and culture. However, despite this, Thailand has one of the world's largest unregulated ivory markets and is consistently highlighted as one of the most problematic countries in the illegal ivory trade. Partly to blame for the current poaching crisis is Thai domestic legislation that permits trade in ivory from domesticated Asian Elephants but provides no effective mechanism or legal framework for the internal regulation of this market nor for the control of the illegal trade in ivory from either wild Asian Elephants Elephas maximus or African Elephants Loxodonta africana. Recent surveys of retail outlets across key locations in Bangkok have revealed a disturbing increase both in the number of retail outlets offering ivory as well as the quantity of ivory available. Surveys of known ivory retail outlets were carried out on a monthly basis from January-April 2013 and October 2013-May 2014. The type and number of ivory items seen for sale were recorded. Retail outlets, including those newly identified and those that only began stocking ivory during the survey period, were repeatedly revisited on subsequent surveys. In January 2013, 61 retail outlets selling ivory were found in key previously-identified locations around Bangkok while less than 12 months later, in December 2013, this figure had increased to 105 retail outlets in the same locations. During this period, the number of individual ivory pieces almost trebled, from 5,715 to 14,512, indicating a growing market and considerably exceeding what could be produced by ivory from the current domesticated elephant population. There are approximately 1,230 adult male captive elephants in Thailand and it is estimated that they could only yield approximately 650 kg of ivory annually, possibly less and typically in small sized pieces owing to the periodic trimming of tusks. This quantity is considerably less than what was observed in Bangkok markets. In addition, the number and size of specific products indicates that larger sized elephant tusks are reaching the market in Thailand and seizure data confirms attempts to move large quantities of African Elephant ivory to Thailand from Africa. Additional retail outlets, including newly established ivory outlets, were recorded in every month of the survey, despite a requirement for registration and monitoring of any retail outlet selling or processing ivory under current legislation (Commercial Registration Act of 1956). These findings are indicative of a lack of implementation of Thailand's CITES Ivory Trade Action Plan, which was drawn up to meet recommendations from the 64th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. Indeed, the actions outlined in that plan do not appear to be having any impact on the domestic ivory market in Bangkok. The ivory market in Thailand is still thriving and remains one of the largest and most active worldwide, with high turnover of stock and continued sales to foreign tourists. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/storage/Thailand-market-survey-report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Thailand URL: http://www.traffic.org/storage/Thailand-market-survey-report.pdf Shelf Number: 132727 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal MarketsIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife Crimes (Thailand) |
Author: WildAid Title: Ivory Demand in China Summary: Elephants are primarily poached for their ivory, which comes from the tusks of all African and male Asian elephants, and is used for carvings, jewelry, chopsticks, and other crafts. While the use of ivory dates back hundreds of years, scientists believe ivory has been processed on an industrial scale in the last century to supply markets in the U.S., Europe, and recently Asia. In 2007, African elephant populations were approximately 500,000-700,000, while the estimated global Asian elephant population was 30,000-50,000. In 1976, the African elephant was listed under Appendix II of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), designed to control and limit trade, while in 1975 the Asian elephant was listed on CITES Appendix I, prohibiting international trade. However, the CITES regulatory system was subject to widespread abuse and African elephant populations fell from more than 1.2 million to roughly 600,000 by 1989. During the 1980s, a decade referred to as the "Ivory Wars", at least 700,000 elephants were slaughtered throughout Africa as legal trade enabled large-scale laundering of ivory from poached elephants. Details: San Francisco: WildAid, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2014 at: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/WEBReportIvoryDemandinChina2014.pdf Year: 2017 Country: China URL: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/WEBReportIvoryDemandinChina2014.pdf Shelf Number: 133071 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsEndangered SpeciesIllegal Wildlife TradeIvory Wildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (China) |
Author: Lum, Meagan Title: Contemporary approaches to stopping the illegal ivory trade: a case study in cultural motivations Summary: Elephants and their ivory have a rich and long history in Thailand. However, the demand for ivory in Thailand is dramatically affecting elephant populations, particularly African elephants. While the consumption of ivory is banned in most countries, Thailand still allows for domestic consumption, resulting in the mixing of legal and illegal ivory. Understanding the cultural traditions that gives rise to contemporary values and beliefs about the consumption of ivory can provide significant and critical insight into why people consume it. This study argues that greater contextual understanding of cultural beliefs can make awareness campaigns more effective at reducing the consumption of ivory. To understand cultural motivations more deeply, this study uses a sociological perspective, primarily that of Pierre Bourdieu. This provides a more contextual engagement with Thai consumers, reconnects them with cultural values about elephants and their importance in Thai society, and works towards a shift in attitudes about consuming ivory. Details: Burnaby, BC, Canada: Simon Fraser University, 2014. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 15, 2015 at: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/14215 Year: 2014 Country: Thailand URL: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/14215 Shelf Number: 133918 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife Crime (Thailand) |
Author: iworry Title: Dead or Alive? Valuing an Elephant Summary: New ground-breaking report reveals how the loss of Africa's elephants threatens Africa's economies - and travel companies offering a chance to see the species - and highlights the need for global action. The analysis, conducted through our iworry campaign, compared the value of elephants to local economies to profits netted through the illegal ivory trade. Between January and August 2014, researchers tallied approximately 17.8 metric tons of ivory seized worldwide, harvested from 1,940 poached elephants. Most of these seizures occurred in Kenya, Gabon, China, and Vietnam, countries identified by CITES as doing relatively little to stem the tide of black-market ivory. We estimate the raw-ivory value of a poached elephant to be $21,000. In contrast, a living elephant is worth more than $1.6 million over its lifetime, largely because of its eco-tourism draw. The report lists travel companies, airlines, and local economies as benefiting from this largess of the world's largest land mammal, whereas the ivory trade may fund criminal and terrorist groups. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, 2014. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://iworry.org/elephants-worth-much-alive-dead/ Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: http://iworry.org/elephants-worth-much-alive-dead/ Shelf Number: 133839 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeIvoryWildlife Crimes (Africa) |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Vanishing Point: Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania's Elephants Summary: The devastating poaching crisis in Tanzania 25 years ago was characterized by increased criminality, corruption, the proliferation of firearms, the failure of the judicial system and the perception that Tanzania was a sanctuary for criminals. Between 1977-87, Tanzania lost over 50,000 elephants, more than 50 per cent of its population. The Government concluded that without drastic action the country would lose both its elephants and international credibility. In 1989, recognising it could not tackle the situation alone and, in the face of considerable opposition from key allies, Tanzania proposed an international ban on all African ivory trade. As a result, it was hailed as a champion for African elephants and a global conservation leader. The ban succeeded for a decade. The poaching crisis was brought under control and many elephant populations either recovered or stabilised. In Tanzania, the population increased to about 142,788 by 2006, with over half in the Selous ecosystem. However, all the indicators that raised the alarm in the 1980s have made a disturbing reappearance and Tanzania's elephants are again being slaughtered en masse to feed a resurgent ivory trade. Tanzania is a key player in the illegal ivory trade. While the escalation in poaching is generally traced to 2009, evidence suggests the trend started four years earlier, indicating deeper entrenchment than previously acknowledged. Between 2009-13, there has been a devastating decline. The Selous population fell by 66 per cent in just over four years. Based on available evidence, Tanzania has lost more elephants to poaching during this period than any other country. In 2013 alone, it reportedly lost 10,000 elephants, equivalent to 30 a day. Tanzania's elephants continue to be poached to supply a growing demand in an unregulated illegal ivory market, predominantly in China. Seizure data implicates Tanzania in more large flows of ivory than any other country. It is also consistently linked to criminal cases featuring exceptionally large consignments of ivory recovered in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. The poaching crisis in Tanzania is due to a toxic mix of criminal syndicates, often led by Chinese nationals, and corruption among some Tanzanian Government officials. This report shows that without a zero-tolerance approach, the future of Tanzania's elephants and its tourism industry are precarious. The ivory trade must be disrupted at all levels of criminality, the entire prosecution chain needs to be systemically restructured and all stakeholders, including communities exploited by the criminal syndicates and those on the front lines of enforcement, given unequivocal support. All trade in ivory should be resolutely banned, especially in China. Details: London; Washington, DC: EIA, 2014. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 10, 2014 at: http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Vanishing-Point-lo-res1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Tanzania URL: http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Vanishing-Point-lo-res1.pdf Shelf Number: 134013 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife Crime (Tanzania) |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Transnational Organized Crime in Eastern Africa: A Threat Assessment Summary: Key Findings: - Transnational organized crime in Eastern Africa is a product of both illicit markets that span continents and an underlying weakness in the rule of law. - Due to conflict and poverty, Eastern Africa produces a large and vulnerable stream of smuggled migrants, who are abused and exploited at multiple stages of their journey. - More than 100,000 people paid smugglers to transport them across the Gulf of Aden or Red Sea to Yemen in 2012, generating an income for the boatmen of over US$15 million. - Around 80,000 of these migrants attempted to cross Yemen to Saudi Arabia, but many of these were waylaid by smugglers and subjected to a range of abuses, including confinement, beatings, extortion and rape. - Despite the large numbers, the flow of migrants is concentrated, with most embarking from two port areas (Obock, Djibouti and Boosaaso, Somalia) where interventions could be addressed. - Heroin has been trafficked to and through Eastern Africa since at least the 1980s, but a series of recent large seizures suggests that this flow has increased. - Some air couriering has been noted, but it appears the great bulk of the heroin is being transported by dhow from the Makran Coast, an area that spans Iran and Pakistan. - The local market is estimated to consume at least 2.5 tons of pure heroin per year, worth some US$160 million in local markets. The volumes trafficked to the region appear to be much larger, as much as 22 tons, suggesting substantial tran-shipment. Eastern Africa is a known transit area for heroin destined for South Africa and West Africa. - Given the prevalence of blood borne disease and known injection drug use, the spread of heroin throughout the region must be carefully monitored and addressed. - Recent research indicates that the rate of poaching in Eastern Africa has increased, rising to levels that could threaten the local elephant population. - The bulk of the large ivory shipments from Africa to Asia appears to pass through the container ports of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, where interventions could be addressed. - It is estimated that between 5,600 and 15,400 elephants are poached in Eastern Africa annually, producing between 56 and 154 metric tons of illicit ivory, of which two-thirds (37 tons) is destined for Asia, worth around US$30 million in 2011. - Somali pirates brought in an estimated US$150 million in 2011, which is equivalent to almost 15% of Somalia's GDP. - Effective intervention has forced pirates to range ever further from the coast to attain their targets: in 2005, the average successful pirate attack was 109 km from the Somali coast; in 2012, it was 746 km. Ships have also become more effective at defending themselves. - The increase in risk associated with protracted expeditions and international countermeasures have contributed to a decline in piracy: in April of 2009 alone, pirates hijacked 16 ships, but after April 2011, they averaged less than one per month. There were no successful hijackings for ransom in the Somali area of operations in the first half of 2013. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 28, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/TOC_East_Africa_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/TOC_East_Africa_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 129829 Keywords: Animal PoachingDrug TraffickingElephantsHeroinHuman SmugglingIvoryMigrantsOrganized CrimePirates/PiracyWildlife Crime |
Author: Nan, Jiang Title: A Crime Pattern Analysis of the Illegal Ivory Trade in China Summary: The illegal ivory trade fuels illegal elephant poaching in both Africa and Asia. The illegal ivory trade in China is considered a key threat to the survival of the elephant species: since 2009, China has become the largest illegal ivory market in the world. Although China has uncovered a great number of cases of illegal ivory trade with the seizure of illegal ivory in the past decade, this trade is still growing. A deeper understanding of the nature and patterns of illegal ivory trade through an analysis of ivory seizure data should improve the efficiency of efforts to prevent the illegal ivory trade in China. This paper analyses data on 106 seizures of illegal ivory that was collected from Chinese news reports between 1999 and 2014, with a particular focus on its frequency and illegal trade 'hotspot' locations in China. The analysis found three illegal ivory trade cycles (2001-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2014) and four hotspots. Preventing the illegal ivory trade will require more international cooperation and coordination between China and other countries. Details: Acton, ACT, AUS: Transnational Environmental Crime Project, Australian National University, 2015. 17p. Source: Internet Research: TEC Project Working Paper 1/2015: Accessed October 19, 2015 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/IR/TEC/TEC%20Working%20Paper%201-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: China URL: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/IR/TEC/TEC%20Working%20Paper%201-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 136999 Keywords: Animal PoachingCrime AnalysisCrime HotspotsElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife CrimeWildlife Trade |
Author: Knights, Peter Title: The Illusion of Control: Hong Kong's 'Legal' Ivory Trade Summary: For more than a century, Hong Kong has been a hub for the global ivory trade. Due to the region's high overall trade volumes, easy access to mainland China, and lax regulation and supervision, this role continues, despite the 1989 international commercial ivory trade ban. Hong Kong has been the gateway through which the tusks of hundreds of thousands of poached elephants have been laundered - first en route to Japan, and more recently, to China. Officials claiming to regulate the trade provide a facade of legitimacy while making no physical link between the ivory itself and the paper trail with which they legitimize it. In short, Hong Kong has been the ivory poacher's and smuggler's laundry. At the time of the 1989 ban, Hong Kong held 670 tonnes of ivory, much of it highly dubious in origin and laundered through the discredited quota system under the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Rather than set a deadline for selling off this stock and closely monitoring its disbursement, Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the government agency charged with implementing CITES, has continued to allow unregulated sales for 26 years, making no meaningful checks to ensure the ivory is from the original stock and not from recently poached elephants. Traders admit they routinely replenish stocks with newly poached ivory, as there is no system to connect any individual tusk or ivory product to required documentation. Essentially, the AFCD has provided unlimited license to launder poached ivory. Nearly all of Hong Kong's ivory vendors flout even the most basic regulation: the requirement that vendors clearly display licenses in their stores. In international meetings, AFCD officials have defended - and even promoted - continued domestic trade, insisting that its system is airtight, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. It's clear that the AFCD lacks the resources, capability and desire to monitor the ivory trade, even superficially. Though long-term sales trends indicate that Hong Kong's stockpile should have been exhausted around 2004, 111.3 tonnes remain unsold, a figure that has barely changed in recent years, when demand for ivory has been the highest-ever, fueled by mainland China's economic growth. A recent study indicated that over 90% of the ivory sold in Hong Kong is purchased by tourists from the mainland (47 million visited in 2014), with unscrupulous vendors coaching them on how to successfully evade detection when smuggling it back to China. According to the latest figures, up to 33,000 elephants are poached each year for their ivory. In a recent poll, 75% of the Hong Kong public interviewed supported a ban on ivory sales. China and the United States recently announced a joint commitment to ending all commercial ivory sales - a move that is undermined by Hong Kong's ongoing laundering and illegal exports. Details: San Francisco: WildAid, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 2, 2016 at: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Illusion%20of%20Control-Full%20Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Hong Kong URL: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Illusion%20of%20Control-Full%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 137738 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsEndangered SpeciesIllegal TradeIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife CrimeWildlife Smuggling |
Author: Crosta, Andrea Title: Blending Ivory: China's Old Loopholes, New Hopes Summary: A report on an undercover investigation in mainland China and Hong Kong in an effort to expose the areas where illegal ivory opportunistically enters the legal ivory market, and where China's legal trade system and legal businesses are exploited to launder illegal ivory onto the legal market. The investigation was performed over a 10-month period in 2015. EAL investigators conducted two field missions to Hong Kong and four field missions to mainland China using various stories to garner meetings with ivory traders and other industry insiders. The team made extensive use of undercover filming and set up a series of entities to legitimize these back-stories. A few highlights from the report include: - Legitimate businesses and business people participate in and facilitate the laundering of illicit ivory through the legal ivory market by such means as 1) importing supposedly pre-ban, antique, and trophy hunting ivory, 2) the manipulation of the ivory registration system within China, 3) trading ivory privately and illegally without following the government's guidelines and restrictions, and 4) the use of the existing huge illegal raw ivory stocks (>1,000 tons) in the hands of a few traders. - Chinese traders now import ivory mainly via Hong Kong (or purchase worked ivory in Hong Kong), "legalize" it, and re-export the ivory to mainland China. - The company Beijing Mammoth Art Co LTD (ivory imports, retail sales, carving factory, trophy hunting), one of the most powerful ivory traders in China, and chosen as the main target of this investigation, confirmed to EAL investigators that they are connected to a company in Hong Kong called Tung's Carving Gallery (Tung Pit Wang), to import and work ivory in Hong Kong. The trader then re-exports the worked ivory to his business in Beijing to avoid Chinese ivory quotas and to facilitate import permitting. According to a source very familiar with the ivory industry (a maker of ivory carving machines) Beijing Mammoth Art also provides ivory to around 300 illegal small carving facilities in and around Beijing. - Among the galaxy of various connections, Beijing Mammoth Art is also linked to Beijing Tian Hao Bo Rui International Sports Exchange LTD (another importer in Beijing), Safari Taxidermy in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and another company, supposedly owned by Beijing Mammoth's "boss," that brokered the purchase and importation of live elephants to Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou from Zimbabwe. - Data shows how during the past two years Beijing Mammoth Art and Beijing Tian Hao Bo Rui have been importing ivory and trophies from all over Africa, including South Africa, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania. - According to our sources, over 1,000 metric tons of illegal ivory is being stockpiled in secret locations and warehouses in China by investors and traders who, regardless what the Chinese government decides, are still betting on future profits. - Through their trophy hunting connections in South Africa, the associates of Beijing Mammoth Art are apparently able to import rhino horns using a new method. After the rhino has been killed the whole animal is preserved by a taxidermist as a trophy. The full body mount is then sent to China and is imported legally as a hunting trophy. Once inside the country the real horn is removed and replaced with a fake one. - Rhino horn was available for sale in every facility visited by the investigative team. Rhino horn is still in high demand throughout China, with traders indicating they can sell it as quickly as they can acquire it. - EAL investigators also assessed the availability of other rare wildlife products because at the demand end of the trade chain (China), ivory traders consistently deal with multiple wildlife products. An ivory carver and trader in Beijing - also a collector of hunting trophies and rare wildlife products from around the world - also showed EAL investigators tiger teeth and tiger bone wine. Objects made of rhino horn and tiger teeth were showed to EAL investigators multiple times, often as pictures via the app WeChat. - There is evidence that the social pressure to end the ivory trade from the international community, and now the Chinese government, is mounting and having an effect on the market. Ivory traders in China were supposedly scheduled to meet in November of 2015 to discuss the future of the ivory trade, both legal and illegal. - We do want to express our appreciation to the Chinese government for its agreement to work toward closing down the domestic ivory trade, heightening efforts to reduce both the legal and illegal ivory markets, continuing efforts to reduce demand, and pledging to help solve the elephant poaching crisis. "One of the major findings of this report is an apparently growing uneasiness among illegal ivory traffickers in China to continue with their business," says Andrea Crosta, Executive Director of EAL. "There's a huge quantity of illegal ivory in China, over 1,000 tons, and it's unclear how to deal with it, but the traders are discussing, for the first time, the future of the ivory trade, both legal and illegal. There may be reason to have hope that the tide is finally turning in favor of elephants in Africa. Now it's in the hands of President Xi Jinping" he concludes. Also of significance is an alarming amount of rhino horn that is apparently readily available in China; the EAL investigation team was offered rhino horn at every facility they visited. "The traders we spoke with claim that they can sell rhino horn as quickly as they can get their hands on it," says Crosta. "Other wildlife products - tiger wine, tiger bone wine - are also readily available and easily obtainable." The undercover footage collected over the course of this investigation will be publicly shared following the premiere of the feature documentary 'Ivory' in May 2016. The documentary, produced by Terra Mater Factual Studios and Microsoft Co-Founder Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Productions, will reveal the fight against poachers and traffickers across Africa and Asia unlike any other documentary previously made. The film follows the ivory supply chain and will include EAL's investigation into the blending of China's legal and illegal ivory markets. Details: Los Angeles: Elephant Action League, 2015. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 4, 2016 at: http://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/EAL-BLENDING-IVORY-Report-Dec2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: China URL: http://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/EAL-BLENDING-IVORY-Report-Dec2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137759 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |
Author: U.S. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations Title: Ivory and Insecurity: The Global Implications of Poaching in Africa Summary: Ivory poaching, like all forms of illegal wildlife trade, is a profitable business. Indeed, the U.S. State Department estimates the market price of poached ivory at $400 per pound. Global Financial Integrity recently estimated the global value of the illicit trade in all forms of wildlife, excluding fishing, at between $7.8 and $10 billion. In recent years, organized crime syndicates, militias, and even terrorist elements have taken notice of the profits that can be made in the illegal trafficking of wildlife, generating an alarming up-tick in the scale of the industry and posing serious national security concerns for the United States and our partners. Details: Washington, DC: GPO, 2012. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: S Hrg. 112-602: Accessed march 30, 2016 at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg76689/pdf/CHRG-112shrg76689.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Africa URL: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg76689/pdf/CHRG-112shrg76689.pdf Shelf Number: 138494 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllicit TradeIvoryOrganized CrimeTerrorist FinancingWildlife Crime |
Author: Lo, Cheryl Title: The Hard Truth: How Hong Kong's Ivory Trade is Fuelling Africa's Elephant Poaching Crisis Summary: In recent years, the global illegal wildlife trade has exploded, expanding to meet vastly increased demand for wild animal products. Underpinned by crime syndicates, wildlife is trafficked in the same way as drugs or weapons: it is now the fourth-largest illicit trade, valued at over US$ 19 billion annually. Of grave concern to WWF is the effect of this trade on elephants - over 30,000 are killed every year in Africa, primarily for their tusks. The majority of the illegal ivory harvested is sent to Asian markets, particularly China and Thailand, with Hong Kong playing a key role in this trade. Hong Kong currently has a legal stockpile of ivory taken from wild elephants, amassed before African elephants were listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and enacted in local legislation in 1990. Today, Hong Kong ivory traders claim to conduct their business by using this stockpile from 25 years ago. The current size of this stockpile is 111.3 tonnes and it lies in the possession of over 400 license holders. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Illegal ivory is accessible in Hong Kong. The city ranks fifth globally in terms of the quantity of ivory seized - over 33 tonnes have been confiscated since 2000. A recorded conversation with an ivory trader revealed that a buyer in Hong Kong can make a "purchase order" for ivory directly from Africa, thus fuelling the ongoing poaching crisis. Legal ivory is used as a front for the illegal ivory trade. Traders claim to the government that they are selling very little ivory, yet Hong Kong has an extensive ivory business. One major ivory trader explained that "laundering" is easy, whereby traders use the stockpile of legal ivory as a front while they instead sell smuggled, illegal ivory to unsuspecting buyers. Loopholes exist in the licensing system. These enable the system to be exploited by unscrupulous businesses, perpetuating the illegal ivory trade and driving the rapid decline in elephant populations. A major ivory trader suggested best licensing practices to the government, but this proposal was not adopted. Also, the government does not perform forensic testing to confirm the age of ivory being displayed, stored or sold. The re-export of ivory from Hong Kong without permits is illegal, but rampant. Over 90 per cent of ivory buyers are mainland Chinese tourists, yet it is illegal to take ivory across Hong Kong's borders without a permit. An ivory trader described how buyers can simply smuggle their purchases across the border. This presents a huge challenge to Hong Kong Customs, as the city welcomes 60 million visitors every year. Inadequate deterrents and prosecution. The maximum penalties for smuggling and selling illegal ivory under Hong Kong Law are harsh, but often only low penalties are given. Between 2011 and 2013, most prosecutions resulted in relatively small fines, with only about 10 cases resulting in short prison sentences. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has limited resources to inspect ivory traders. There are only eight inspectors who are tasked with checking all the shops selling items derived from rare and threatened species in Hong Kong. The regulatory system lacks transparency. Most key information relating to the ivory trade is not publicly available. In view of the lack of effectiveness in regulating ivory trafficking and trade and the toll it is taking on elephant populations, it's time to re-write the future of elephants by banning ivory sales in Hong Kong. WWF calls for the Hong Kong government to rapidly phase out the commercial processing and sale of ivory, based on a firm plan and a short timeline. Hong Kong has earned an international reputation as a law-abiding society, and must ensure that this reputation is maintained. The threats posed by global crime syndicates and the legal loopholes in local regulations are a serious challenge to our rule of law, therefore WWF calls the Hong Kong government to take all available measures to disrupt and prosecute those who prey on and profit from the illegal trade. Only firm, robust and immediate action can halt the trade in ivory and save the elephants. WWF's detailed study of the ivory trade in Hong Kong assesses the effectiveness of the existing regulatory system through an analysis of government data and information from other specialist organizations in the field, supplemented by information collected by field investigators who posed as authentic ivory buyers to conduct interviews with ivory traders. The research has included conversations with three traders, who claimed to have access to at least 15 to 20 tonnes of ivory between them. This is a large sum compared with the 111.3 tonnes of legal ivory stockpile held by all businesses in Hong Kong. All three traders pointed to a number of irregularities in the Hong Kong ivory trade. The study has uncovered several fundamental flaws in the current regulatory system and evidence of widespread illegality relating to the ivory trade. The evidence in this report demonstrates the systemic flaws in Hong Kong's illegal and under-regulated trade, which is directly fuelling present-day poaching activities in Africa. The study identifies seven major weaknesses in the current system of regulation. In recent years, the global illegal wildlife trade has exploded, expanding to meet vastly increased demand for wild animal products. Underpinned by crime syndicates, wildlife is trafficked in the same way as drugs or weapons: it is now the fourth-largest illicit trade, valued at over US$ 19 billion annually. Of grave concern to WWF is the effect of this trade on elephants - over 30,000 are killed every year in Africa, primarily for their tusks. The majority of the illegal ivory harvested is sent to Asian markets, particularly China and Thailand, with Hong Kong playing a key role in this trade. Hong Kong currently has a legal stockpile of ivory taken from wild elephants, amassed before African elephants were listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) and enacted in local legislation in 1990. Today, Hong Kong ivory traders claim to conduct their business by using this stockpile from 25 years ago. The current size of this stockpile is 111.3 tonnes and it lies in the possession of over 400 license holders. Details: Hong Kong) World Wildlife Fund - Hong Kong, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2016 at: http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/816/files/original/wwf_ivorytrade_eng_eversion.pdf?1442844784 Year: 2015 Country: Hong Kong URL: http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/816/files/original/wwf_ivorytrade_eng_eversion.pdf?1442844784 Shelf Number: 138891 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeIllegal TradeIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Raxter, Patricia Anne Title: Wildlife Crime and Other Challenges to Resource System Resilience Summary: Although wildlife crime has exploded in Africa over the past decade - "commercial poaching" now kills an estimated eight percent of the continent's elephant population each year - some governments have proven more successful than others at protecting wildlife and preserving habitats. To explain this variation, this study examines how the policies of three states (Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana) have enhanced or undermined the resilience of the continent's elephant ecosystem. Using the social-ecological system framework, the study illustrates how each state's changing practices have either exacerbated the stresses wrought by wildlife crime or successfully protected local populations from poaching. The study finds that monocausal explanations cannot explain social-ecological systems outcomes. Cross-level and cross-scale dynamics, including temporal, geospatial, epistemological, and institutional linkages, explain variation in system functionality. These dynamics include colonial policies, governance practices, the international conservation community, and resource use decisions. Details: Norfolk, VA: Old Dominion University, 2015. 387p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=gpis_etds Year: 2015 Country: Africa URL: http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=gpis_etds Shelf Number: 139135 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Management |
Author: Enough Project Title: Poachers Without Borders Summary: Poachers are killing the elephants of Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at an unprecedentedly rapid pace. Since mid-April of 2014, park rangers have found the carcasses of 131 elephants, slaughtered for their tusks. Unlike in the past, when criminal gangs carried out most of the poaching, the main actors appear to be heavily armed groups using professional techniques. Some of the poachers have been involved in Central Africa's many conflicts and have carried out multiple atrocities against civilians, creating much misery and suffering over the past decade. Details: Longmont, CT: Digital Globe, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 7, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/PoachersWithoutBorders_28Jan2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/PoachersWithoutBorders_28Jan2015.pdf Shelf Number: 139296 Keywords: Animal Poaching ElephantsIvory Trafficking in Wildlife Wildlife Crime Wildlife Trafficking |
Author: Hsiang, Solomon Title: Does Legalization Reduce Black Market Activity? Evidence from a Global Ivory Experiment and Elephant Poaching Data Summary: Black markets are estimated to represent a fifth of global economic activity, but their response to policy is poorly understood because participants systematically hide their actions. It is widely hypothesized that relaxing trade bans in illegal goods allows legal supplies to competitively displace illegal supplies, but a richer economic theory provides more ambiguous predictions. Here we evaluate the first major global legalization experiment in an internationally banned market, where a monitoring system established before the experiment enables us to observe the behavior of illegal suppliers before and after. International trade of ivory was banned in 1989, with global elephant poaching data collected by field researchers since 2003. A one-time legal sale of ivory stocks in 2008 was designed as an experiment, but its global impact has not been evaluated. We find that international announcement of the legal ivory sale corresponds with an abrupt ~66% increase in illegal ivory production across two continents, and a possible ten-fold increase in its trend. An estimated ~71% increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa corroborates this finding, while corresponding patterns are absent from natural mortality and alternative explanatory variables. These data suggest the widely documented recent increase in elephant poaching likely originated with the legal sale. More generally, these results suggest that changes to producer costs and/or consumer demand induced by legal sales can have larger effects than displacement of illegal production in some global black markets, implying that partial legalization of banned goods does not necessarily reduce black market activity. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper no. 22314: Accessed June 13, 2016 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w22314.pdf Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w22314.pdf Shelf Number: 139411 Keywords: Animal Poaching Black Markets ElephantsIllegal Markets Illegal Trade Ivory Wildlife Trade |
Author: Martin, Esmond Title: No Oasis: The Egyptian Ivory Trade in 2005 Summary: A comprehensive survey of the ivory trade in Egypt, focused upon the cities of Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, was undertaken in March and April 2005. The principal findings of that effort can be summarized as follows: - Raw elephant ivory tusks are still being imported illegally into Egypt, albeit in very limited quantities. Such shipments reportedly originate in the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan and are moved overland from Sudan into Egypt. Other reports suggested that a few tusks also may come from India, but such information could not be substantiated. Compared with the late 1990s, however, the quantity imported has declined markedly. - The price paid by craftsmen and owners of the ivory workshops in Cairo for a 2-5 kg raw ivory tusk averaged about USD190/kg, while larger tusks weighing 10-19 kg cost around USD345/kg. When adjusted for inflation in 1998 USD terms, these prices are 200-250% of those documented for comparable tusks noted in surveys in 1998 and 1999. This price increase may be credibly attributed to three factors: increased law enforcement, a reduction in supply in Egypt and the increasing cost of elephant ivory at its source in neighbouring African countries. - Somewhere between 25 and 50 ivory craftsmen, some located in and around Khan al-Khalili, the main market in Cairo, are estimated still to be carving ivory today, but their numbers have fallen to somewhere between one-quarter and one-half of the 100 carvers identified in 1998 and most only carve ivory on a parttime basis. This continues the significant decline in the number of ivory carvers in Egypt, documented with comparable data for the years 1989 and 1998 (Martin and Stiles, 2000). - A total of 130 retail outlets were found selling ivory products in the five cities and towns surveyed. Cairo, Luxor and Aswan collectively had 142 shops in 1998 but, by 2005, the number of retail outlets selling ivory had apparently fallen to 119 in these three cities, indicating an overall reduction of about 15-20%. - The number of ivory items seen for sale at the retail level numbered 10 709 in 2005, less than half the number observed in 1998 (21 460). While the scale of the trade has apparently fallen in all cities surveyed, the greatest decline in the number of ivory products on the retail market was noted in Aswan and Luxor, where only 373 and 1308, respectively, were found in 2005 compared to 3388 and 6445 ivory products observed in 1998. - Cairo, with 83% of the ivory items seen for sale, continues to be the major outlet for ivory products in Egypt. Luxor accounted for 12% of the ivory products observed and Aswan had only three per cent. In sharp contrast, the huge tourist resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh displayed only negligible amounts of ivory. - The most common items found for sale were figurines of Egyptian gods and humans - 34%; animal figurines, such as scarabs, camels and elephants - 30%; pendants - 9%; necklaces - 6%; and bangles - 4%. It is worth noting that there were almost no ivory name seals or chopsticks, key ivory products for the Asian market, found during the survey. - The main buyers of ivory products were reportedly tourists from Italy and Spain, followed by those from France and unspecified Latin American countries. This largely mirrored the findings of the 1998 survey. Local Egyptians apparently consume virtually no ivory themselves. - Retail prices for worked ivory items sold in Egypt in 2005, adjusted for inflation in US dollars (USD) terms, appear to be anywhere from twice to over four times those of late 1998. In 2005, a typical 10-cm human figurine cost about USD185, a medium-sized bead necklace was USD51, a 2.5-cm bangle was USD35, a 5- cm pendant was USD14 and a small ring was USD7. - There were very few antique ivory pieces observed for sale (less than one per cent of the total number of ivory products surveyed). Equally, only a very small number of ivory items that had been manufactured in other countries were found for sale on the Egyptian market. Thus, virtually all of Egypt's ivory trade comprises products that were locally produced in recent times. - The Egyptian Government has made significant efforts, particularly from 1999 through to 2003, to seize elephant tusks and illegal worked ivory items in several parts of the country. Altogether, over 3.5 t of ivory has been seized during this period. Improved law enforcement has been partly responsible for the decline of the Egyptian ivory industry and various shopkeepers indicated awareness concerning the illegality of the trade or had experienced government pressure to curtail sales directly. - Although ivory trade in the country is under pressure and has declined considerably since 1999, the scale of the current trade at retail level is still significant and of conservation concern. In this regard, Egypt has not conformed with the CITES requirements for controls on the internal trade in ivory contained in Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP12). - To reduce the availability of elephant ivory products in key markets throughout the country and to ensure compliance with all CITES requirements, it is recommended that Egypt: - review and improve policy, legislation and regulatory measures so that they fulfil the requirements of CITES Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. 12); - address implementation and enforcement deficiencies; - raise awareness and publicity on wildlife trade controls; and - be reviewed as part of the CITES Standing Committee process for assessing domestic ivory markets worldwide, with a view to including Egypt as a priority country for attention within the context of the Action plan for the control of trade in African elephant ivory. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2005. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 8, 2016 at: http://www.traffic.org/mammals Year: 2005 Country: Egypt URL: http://www.traffic.org/mammals Shelf Number: 147904 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal TradeIllegal Wildlife TradeIvory |
Author: Krishnasamy, Kanitha Title: Malaysia's Invisible Ivory Channel: An assessment of ivory seizures involving Malaysia from January 2003 - May 2014 Summary: Malaysia does not have an open domestic ivory market, unlike at least seven other Southeast Asian countries. However, its position in the global illicit ivory trade has become more prominent since 2009 when its role as a principal transit gateway for ivory en route to consumer markets in other Southeast and East Asian countries emerged. This occurrence has made Malaysia the world's paramount illicit ivory transit country, according to data in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), which tracks ivory seizures globally since 1989. The ETIS report to the 62nd CITES Standing Committee meeting in July 2012 identified Malaysia as one of eight countries most heavily implicated in the illegal ivory trade chain. Malaysia was the only country that served as purely a transit country among this group of African source and Asian end-use nations. To better understand this trade dynamic, TRAFFIC assessed information from ivory seizures from a period of over 11 years (nearly 11 and a half years), from January 2003 to May 2014 - all seizures were either made by Malaysian authorities, or made outside the country, but with Malaysia identified as part of the trade chain. Findings highlight that a total of 66 ivory seizures have been connected to Malaysia, cumulatively recording 63 419 kg of ivory over this period. Although only 26 of all seizures were large-scale seizures (>500 kg), these alone logged in a total weight of 60 404 kg, accounting for 95% of the total volume seized. This report discusses some insights from the seizures over this period, as well as highlighting needs and opportunities in order for Malaysia to remove itself from its current position as a country of international concern for illicit trade in ivory under CITES. For its part, Malaysia has made a total of 19 seizures from January 2003-February 2013 totalling close to 15 tonnes of ivory. Five of these, representing 94% of total volume seized in the country, were large-scale seizures, one of which represents the third largest seizure in ETIS. The large-scale seizures in Malaysia occurred in all three of the nation's leading seaports: Ports of Klang, Pasir Gudang and Penang. However, based on seizures made outside Malaysia during the assessed period, Malaysia has been implicated in at least 47 other seizures, involving more than 48 tonnes of ivory that had already passed through a Malaysian port undetected or was destined for the country. A vast majority of these were raw ivory, with only a small proportion being worked ivory that had already passed through a Malaysian port undetected or was destined for the country. This occurrence is the primary reason Malaysia has been identified as a key transit country in the global ivory trade. These seizures involve the import, export and re-export of ivory (and other prohibited wildlife parts) from at least 23 known countries and territories around the world, at various points of the trade route. Almost 75% (n=35) of these 47 seizures were made by other countries after the shipment passed a Malaysian port unstopped, amounting to 33 889 kg of ivory. Seventeen of the 47 seizures originated from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda - the three major exit points for the world's illegal elephant ivory trade. These three countries alone exported 66% (31 868 kg) of the total volume of ivory seized during this period involving Malaysia, with Kenya and Tanzania each moving more than 13 tonnes of ivory. Tanzania's role in moving large quantities of ivory through Malaysia has been documented since at least 2003, while the other two became more prominent since 2010. From all the seizures involving Malaysia as a transit or destination country, 16 437 kg of ivory from 13 seizures occurred in 2013 alone-the highest annual record over the 12-year period. Seven of these 13 seizures took place in the month of October, amounting to more than 8000 kg of ivory. At least 23 rhino horns were also trafficked along with the ivory between August 2010 and December 2013, with 15 horns seized in a single shipment from Uganda. In two of these shipments involving 20 rhino horns from Kenya and Uganda, Malaysia was listed as the country of destination. Outside this study period, between April 2015 and August 2015, four other seizures by Australia, Kenya, Thailand and Viet Nam have been reported. These involved more than 5 tonnes of ivory that had either passed through Malaysia or listed Malaysia as the country of destination. Such occurrences serve to reinforce that Malaysian ports continue to be used to move large quantities of ivory, and more concerning, appears to becoming more frequent at a time when the poaching of African Elephants is at its most critical level. Not a single arrest or prosecution occurred with respect to any Malaysian ivory seizure during the assessed period. However two prosecutions occurred in 2015, outside the assessed period. Malaysia's geographical proximity to the world's major ivory consumers-China and Thailand - and its efficient and well-developed port infrastructure, which ranks amongst the world's most elite ports, are important factors behind the country being used to smuggle ivory repeatedly. Although the sheer quantity, volume and speed of cargo moving through Malaysia's major seaports involving tens of millions of containers each year makes the detection of illicit ivory shipments extremely challenging, it is not an insurmountable task. Collaborative action, including risk profiling and targeting, as well as timely communication between source and consumer countries have already resulted in a number of successful seizures globally, and indeed forms part of Malaysia's National Ivory Action Plan that was submitted to CITES pursuant to the recommendations of the CITES Standing Committee. Such measures must continue, conducted in tandem with other essential actions, without which Malaysia will continue to be a prominent player in the illegal ivory trade. Details: Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27231847/1473276463457/Malaysia-ivory-analysis.pdf?token=qaFgzHXTokA8FTKZWmPcJE3QWpI%3D Year: 2016 Country: Malaysia URL: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27231847/1473276463457/Malaysia-ivory-analysis.pdf?token=qaFgzHXTokA8FTKZWmPcJE3QWpI%3D Shelf Number: 145620 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal IvoryIllegal TradeIllicit IvoryIvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Vigne, Lucy Title: Vietnam's Illegal Ivory Trade Threatens Africa's Elephants Summary: - The Vietnamese illegal ivory trade is now one of the largest in the world. - Of all the ivory industries in Asia, Vietnamese carvers have multiplied in number and increased their production of illegal ivory items the most rapidly since 2008. - Tusks are smuggled into Vietnam, nearly all from Africa, with only a few nowadays from domesticated and wild elephants in Laos and Vietnam. - In early 2015 the largest proportion of tusks was seized officially in Haiphong; this changed to Danang in the latter half of 2015. - Wholesale prices for raw tusks in Vietnam were about the same in 2015 as in mainland China, around USD 1,100/kg for a 1-3-kg tusk. - Historically ivory carving was an insignificant art form in Vietnam. - While Vietnamese ivory carvers have increased greatly in number, we did not hear of any foreigners working ivory in Vietnam. - Ivory artisans earn on average USD 260 a month, considerably less than in mainland China. - We talked to ivory carvers in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), in Buon Ma Thuot and in three northern villages who were optimistic about their business. - Legislation prohibiting the ivory trade in Vietnam remains unclear. A loophole in the law allows worked ivory crafted before 1992 to be legally sold in Vietnam, although with the current weak law enforcement, nobody mentioned this to us, nor did hardly any vendor mention to us that exports were illegal. - We saw no posters or other public notices in Vietnam publicizing that the trade in ivory is illegal. - In HCMC, Hanoi, one town and village in the Central Highlands, and two villages in the north we counted 242 open outlets with 16,099 ivory items on display, for retail sale. - Of these items, 9,893 (or 61%) were in one northern village that had not been counted before in a survey. - Nearly all the ivory items for sale in Vietnam are new or recently carved and illegal. - Vietnam has one of the largest number of newly worked illegal ivory items openly offered for retail sale in the world. - Most objects are pendants and other small items, usually jewellery. - There were few ivory antiques, the majority being in HCMC, popular with Chinese customers. - Hardly any expensive ivory items for retail sale were seen. The most expensive new item was a 17-cm human figure for USD 2,500 in HCMC. The most expensive old items were a carved tusk and a large urn for USD 20,000 each in an antique shop in HCMC. - The cheapest ivory item was USD 2 for a thin ring in one northern Vietnam village. - Retail ivory prices for common comparable items were three times more in Beijing and Shanghai than in HCMC and Hanoi and seven times more than in a village selling the most worked ivory seen in Vietnam. This is due to cheaper labour in Vietnam, fewer overheads, and nearly all illegal items for sale that require no expensive paperwork. - There appears to be little law enforcement within Vietnam against the illegal ivory workshops and retail shops, especially in the smaller locations that few Western foreigners visit. - Nearly all the customers we saw shopping for ivory were from mainland China; they particularly like to visit Vietnam's northern villages to buy ivory items, both wholesale and retail, as the prices are considerably lower than elsewhere in the country. - The chances of Chinese being arrested for carrying illegal ivory items crossing the border from Vietnam into China are extremely small due to ineffective law enforcement. - A growing online illegal ivory trade is expanding among Vietnamese and mainland Chinese. - Other elephant products are sold wholesale and retail in Vietnam, especially in the western region nearer to Cambodia and Laos. Products include bones, feet, hairs, meat, molars, skin and tails. - We saw no raw mammoth ivory and only one item for sale: a pendant. - In 2008 a detailed survey of Vietnam counted 2,444 ivory items on view for sale. In 2015 our survey found this number had risen by 6.6 times. A main reason was the expansion of ivory carving and sales in one particular village in the north to meet demand from mainland Chinese, and an increase in ivory items for sale in the Central Highlands area of Buon Ma Thuot to meet demand for the growing number of Asian tourists going there. - While the illegal rhino horn trade in Vietnam has been heavily criticized, its recently booming ivory trade has been largely overlooked due to a lack of information about it. - Corruption and mismanagement in Vietnam have abetted this expanding and flourishing illegal ivory trade, allowing retail displays to remain wide open and enabling smuggling of the many Vietnamese-carved illegal new ivory items into mainland China. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Save the Elephants, 2016. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 22, 2016 at: http://savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016_VietnamReportFINAL_0.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Vietnam URL: http://savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016_VietnamReportFINAL_0.pdf Shelf Number: 145603 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal IvoryIllegal TradeIvoryRhinosWildlife Crime |
Author: LaFontaine, Peter Title: Elephant vs. Mouse: An investigation of the ivory trade on Craigslist Summary: As perhaps the major online platform for classified advertisements, Craigslist.org has made a name for itself as a site where buyers can find just about anything - whether that's a used bicycle, rare book, or, as this report will show, an expensive ivory carving or elephant hide boots. We wanted to better understand the scope and scale of the ivory trade on Craigslist; if the site was currently a venue for trade in ivory and elephant parts, it could also be a potential partner in the fight to reverse the tide of poaching. Details: Yarmouth Port, MA: International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2015 Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 22, 2016 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/IFAW-craigslist-ivory-report-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/IFAW-craigslist-ivory-report-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 144862 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Thouless, C.R. Title: African Elephant Status Report 2016: An update from the African Elephant Database Summary: This report is the most authoritative source of knowledge about the numbers and distribution of African elephant populations across their 37 range states in sub-Saharan Africa. The report summarises - for the first time in almost a decade - elephant numbers at the continental, regional and national levels, and examines changes in population estimates at the site level. Details: Gland, SWIT: IUCN, 2016. 317p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2016 at: https://www.iucn.org/ssc-specialist-groups/african-elephant-sg/about/ssc-specialist-groups-and-red-list-authorities-10 Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: https://www.iucn.org/ssc-specialist-groups/african-elephant-sg/about/ssc-specialist-groups-and-red-list-authorities-10 Shelf Number: 140506 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsWildlifeWildlife Crime |
Author: Xu, Y. Title: An Act to Save African Elephants: A Ban on Commercial Ivory Trade in China, A Feasibility Study Briefing Summary: Africa's elephants are in crisis. The population of African elephants today are at a record low, with fewer than 500,000 individuals left in the wild, declining from 1.2 million individuals in 1981. The contemporary poaching crisis consolidated in 2010 and since then elephant poaching has escalated to unsustainable levels, leading to a year- on-year decline in many elephant populations - In some parts of Africa, localised extinctions of elephants are actually occurring. The illegal ivory trade is persistent and increasingly well-organised. Reports based on ivory seizures indicate that the volume of illegal ivory trade has tripled since 2007 - Meanwhile, the African elephant crisis has stirred the attention of the international community, which in turn has recognized that an historic opportunity to take actions to save Africa's most iconic species is at hand. This sense of commitment has resonated also in China. In May 2015, the head of China's State Forestry Administration announced that "we will strictly control ivory processing and trade until the commercial processing and sale of ivory and its products are eventually halted". In September 2015, during a State visit to the U.S., Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barrack Obama jointly committed to enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export, including significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and to take significant and timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade of ivory. - Following this momentum, the Chinese government issued a temporary ban on all ivory imports for commercial purposes in March 2016. China has one of the largest illegal ivory markets in the world - Since 2002, the reports of the Elephant Trade Information System to CITES have consistently identified China as the leading destination for ivory globally. China's actions, more than those of any other country, have the potential to reverse the rising trends of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking and have a significant impact on the future survival of African elephants. Therefore, the aim of this current briefing is to provide independent advice and recommendations to the Chinese Government on a possible option that China can consider to address the global problem of illegal ivory trade - a ban on commercial ivory trade in the country. The country's existing ivory trade controls and law enforcement system are examined, in light of the current ivory market in China, as well as the likely impact an ivory trade ban could have. In producing this briefing, WWF and TRAFFIC believe that China can be a leading global example, and provide "best practices" for creating sound policy approaches and time-frames for implementation that will maximize impact on illegal trade and enhance the conservation of elephants. This briefing is a rapid evaluation based on existing knowledge derived from TRAFFIC's monitoring work of the Chinese ivory market. While this is not a comprehensive study, this briefing does outline issues to take into account when examining the need, feasibility and possible implementation challenges involved when considering a ban on commercial ivory trade in China, as well as some next steps needed towards that end. An effective ivory trade ban in the Chinese context will require careful consideration of the particular regulatory mechanisms and implementation structures and processes that will define and support the new domestic policy. WWF and TRAFFIC fully intend to augment this initial briefing document with further in depth studies. Details: Beijing, China: WWF and TRAFFIC, 2016. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: WWF Briefing: Accessed September 29, 2016 at: www.wwfchina.org Year: 2016 Country: China URL: www.wwfchina.org Shelf Number: 140510 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Ivory TradeIllicit TradeIvory TradeWildlife Crime |
Author: Martin, Scott Title: Feasibility Study on the Ban of Hong Kong's Ivory Trade Summary: Just days after the Hong Kong government published its draft five-year timetable to end the domestic ivory trade, WWF today published a legal research report confirming that an ivory ban could be put in place within two years under current Hong Kong law. Commissioned by WWF and conducted by Hong Kong barrister Tim Parker and international consultancy Global Rights Compliance LLP, the Feasibility Study on the Ban of Hong Kong's Ivory Trade concludes that the government could within 6 months halt the practice of issuing new licenses to sell ivory and follow this with legislation to end the trade completely by 2018 - earlier than the government's proposal to outlaw the trade by 2021 "WWF welcomes the government's draft timetable but we believe that an ivory ban in Hong Kong could be legally enacted sooner," said Gavin Edwards, Conservation Director at WWF Hong Kong. "WWF understands that the government's 'five year plan' has been adjusted out of concern for ivory traders and legislatures and that a rushed legislative plan could risk backfiring, while our legal analysis shows that it can be completed within two years." Apart from the speed of the legislative process, WWF's legal analysis is largely consistent with the government's draft proposal and agrees with the key principle that the authorities do not need to compensate ivory traders for their remaining stocks - finding that the proposed ban does not infringe the "right to compensation for lawful deprivation of "property" as protected by Article 105 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR. Traders who chose to speculate over the past 26 years ago - since the international ivory trade started to come under regulation in 1976 and was banned in 1990 - by buying up elephant ivory on the grounds that it was a good investment have no legal grounds to claim compensation. Worse, it may even create a perverse incentive to smuggle ivory into Hong Kong to try and 'cash in' on any compensation scheme, thus creating further challenges for Hong Kong customs authorities. Back in 1990 when the ban on international ivory trade came into force, the Hong Kong government successfully re-trained hundreds of ivory carvers and workers. One of Hong Kong's ex-ivory crafters "Uncle Lee", explains that "there are barely any ivory crafters left in Hong Kong". Mr Lee was a full-time ivory carver in the 1970s who exited the profession in the 1990s. The authorities should explore suitable assistance measures for the few remaining ivory carvers who might be affected by the proposed ban. Details: Surrey, UK: Global Rights Compliance LLP, 2016. 123p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2016 at: http://awsassets.wwfhk.panda.org/downloads/full_grc_report___hk_ivory_1.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Hong Kong URL: http://awsassets.wwfhk.panda.org/downloads/full_grc_report___hk_ivory_1.pdf Shelf Number: 140517 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvory TradeWildlife Crime |
Author: Smith, Lucy Olivia Title: The Costs of Illegal Wildlife Trade: Elephant and Rhino. A study in the framework of the EFFACE research project Summary: African elephants and rhino are facing an uncertain future, placed at risk in the short term by increasing demands for ivory and rhino horn and in the long term by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation from expanding human settlements. It is the short term threat of poaching, however, that puts elephant and rhino at immediate risk of extinction in the wild. Since 2007, illegal poaching has risen precipitously year after year to meet the insatiable market demand of mainly Asian consumers. The high value of ivory, and particularly rhino horn, have established these items as lucrative black market commodities, which has led to the trade becoming highly organised and professionalised. Historically, both elephants and rhino became nearly extinct because of unsustainable hunting. The mass slaughter and near elimination of both species during the twentieth century led to concerted rehabilitation missions. In the 1960's an international coordinated effort called "operation rhino" involved the re-population of white rhino to southern Africa using just a few individuals. For elephants, unregulated poaching and hunting led to the introduction of important protection measures in the late 1980s with a 1989 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on commercial trade of ivory and the inclusion of elephants on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as "vulnerable." Elephant poaching levels are also the highest in over 25 years. Both elephants and rhino are currently listed in Appendix I of CITES meaning that commercial trade in wild-caught specimens is illegal. As a result of these efforts, elephant and rhino populations experienced a decade of low levels of poaching (from 1995 to 2007) that saw their populations begin to rehabilitate. This brief period, however, came to an end in 2007 when poaching levels escalated dramatically and continued to increase on an annual basis. For rhino in particular, the poaching rate over time exhibits the magnitude of growing demand with an average of only fourteen poached rhino individuals per year between 1990 and 2007 increasing to over a thousand in 2014. Poaching for ivory and particularly rhino horn is driven by the high value these products have on the black market. According to the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, the street price of Rhino horn is $100,000/kg compared to the price in 1990 which at the time was estimated at $250-500/kg, with a single horn weighing between 1-3kg, depending on the age and species. Thus, the poached value of a rhino individual ranges between $100,000 - $300,000. The price of ivory has tripled in the last three years in China. Uncarved ivory is worth $2,100 per kilo and an elephant on average has 10 kilos per tusk, thus the black market revenue of one poached elephant is approximately $21,000. Demand from consumers is not abating and parallels the purchasing power of Asia's rising middle class which finds rhino and ivory to be symbolic of prestige and wealth. However, what is fundamentally new is the surge in demand of rhino horn from Vietnam stemming from a rumour around 2008 when a Vietnamese politician claimed to be treated for cancer with rhino horn. Contrary to popular belief, rhino horn is not a common ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine and its use now is distinctly a new trend tied to increased wealth and its perceived medicinal qualities. The number of multimillionaires in Vietnam has grown 150% in the last five years. At the same time, cancer rates in Vietnam are increasing 20-30 % annually with an estimated 150,000 new cases each year making for a long waiting list for radiation therapy and lack of capacity to deal with cancer in conventional facilities. Scientifically rhino horn is composed of carotene and is the same chemical composition as a human finger nail, thus making the trade not only unsustainable but scientifically misguided. On the other hand, ivory has been traded throughout history, but demand from Asian countries particularly Vietnam (for rhino horn) over the last decade has led to a resurgence in poaching pushing many African elephant populations towards extinction. Details: Berlin: Ecologic Institute, 2015. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2016 at: http://efface.eu/sites/default/files/EFFACE%20D3.2c%20-%20Quantitative%20and%20monetary%20analysis%20of%20Elephant%20and%20Rhino%20hunting.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://efface.eu/sites/default/files/EFFACE%20D3.2c%20-%20Quantitative%20and%20monetary%20analysis%20of%20Elephant%20and%20Rhino%20hunting.pdf Shelf Number: 145536 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryRhinosWildlife Crime |
Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare Title: An Investigation of Hawaii's Online Ivory Trade Summary: Over the last decade, surging consumer demand for ivory has triggered a nearly unprecedented poaching wave, one that threatens to drive African elephants toward extinction unless the killing - and demand for tusks and carvings - is halted soon. Many countries including the United States have moved this issue to the top of their conservation policy agendas, most importantly by restricting their domestic ivory markets. The U.S. federal government is expected to finalize a strong ivory trade ban soon that will address imports, exports, and interstate trade, and several states have passed laws to complement the federal rule by restricting intrastate ivory commerce. Hawai'i, which has perhaps the country's biggest remaining market for ivory products, is poised to follow suit. These local efforts are crucial to stopping sales of illegally-imported items - Law enforcement officials estimate that some 90% of smuggled shipments leak past border inspections and find their way into the marketplace, where they are largely indistinguishable from older, legal ivory. For this report, investigators compiled advertising and sales data from 47 Hawai'i-based retailers and individual sellers engaged in the online trade of elephant ivory and related wildlife products, including walrus tusks, whale teeth and bone, mammoth ivory, and hippopotamus teeth. They found a total of 4,661 products in stock or for sale, with an overall value of more than $1.22 million, over a six-day period. The vast majority of this inventory (85.5%) was elephant ivory. Few of these retailers provided any evidence that their wares had been legally imported into the state. Some 28% of the sellers (14 of 47) referred to their advertised items as being "pre-ban," "antique," or "vintage," but only one of the 47 provided supplemental documentation of legal import. Taken together, this large overall inventory and scant proof of legality are cause for concern. Add to this the fact that Hawaii is a known destination for illegal ivory shipments, and the case grows for strong restrictions on intrastate ivory sales. Details: IFAW, 2016. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 19, 2016 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/IFAW-2016-Hawaii-Market-Report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/IFAW-2016-Hawaii-Market-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 145898 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal TradeIvorySmugglingWildlife Crime |
Author: White, Natasha Title: The White Gold of Jihad: violence, legitimisation and contestation in anti-poaching strategies Summary: Since 2011, elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade have been labelled a "serious threat to peace and security". Rigorous military training and weapons have been provided to rangers, national armies have been deployed in protected areas, and shoot-to-kill policies have been (re-)adopted. Within the framework of political ecology, the article critically approaches this "war" for Africa's elephants. Adopting the tools of discourse analysis, it explores how such violence has been legitimized by the "transnational conservation community" and, in turn, how this has been contested by other actors. It argues that the "war" has been legitimized by drawing on two broader threat discourses – the ivory-crime-terror linkage and the 'ChinaAfrica' threat. Through the discursive creation of a boundary object, poaching has 'become' a human concern that appeals to actors typically outside the conservation community. In the final Section, the case of the Lord's Resistance Army's poaching activities in Garamba National Park is explored, to show how the knowledge upon which judgements are made and decisions are taken is ahistorical, depoliticized and based on a series of untenable assumptions Details: Unpublished paper, 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 6, 2017 at: http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_21/White.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_21/White.pdf Shelf Number: 145586 Keywords: Animal PoachingConservationElephantsIvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Pant, Hitesh Title: Zero poaching and social sustainability in protected areas : a study of Chitwan National Park, Nepal Summary: Protected areas (PAs) embody a historical legacy of value contestation and human exclusion. While the rise of community-based conservation in the 1980s sought to reconfigure this mechanism by running a counter narrative arguing that biodiversity conservation and development were mutually reinforcing objectives, exclusionary PAs continue to maintain a strong position in the conservation discourse. The militarization of PAs as a response to the rise in global poaching has allowed state and non-state conservation agencies to wield extensive power as a moral imperative to preserve iconic species. This undertaking is notable in the recent "zero-poaching" campaign, which aims to shut all incidences of illicit mega-fauna poaching within national parks. Supported by prominent conservation groups, the campaign has been able garner momentum after Nepal, one of its member countries, declared four non-consecutive years of zero poaching in its PAs. While conservation groups in Nepal repeatedly stress that they work in tandem with local groups in park buffer zones to deter wildlife crime and support community development, the mechanisms of these social transformations are less evident in the campaigns' media reports, and their modes of operation less scrutinized. Drawing on concepts developed from Antonio Gramsci's studies on cultural hegemony, I review the historical development of anti-poaching from its roots in England in the 18th century to its internationalization in the mid twentieth century. The modern turn towards heightened militarization as a win-win solution for conservation and development is specifically studied within the context of Nepal's Chitwan National Park (CNP), which has been globally recognized as a model for species protection after achieving successive years of zero poaching. I apply a document analysis to test the extent to which CNP adheres to zero poaching’s objective of local participation and inclusive development. Both state and non-state organizations have utilized the mass media to promote the idea of community-led conservation, but the park’s five year management plan reveals that it fails to fully incorporate guidelines from the zero poaching toolkit. Zero poaching marks a turn within international conservation to mainstream an anti-poaching strategy that follows on sustainability’s criteria of transdisciplinary research, mainly by promoting a management technique that aims to account for different value systems, views and interests of stakeholders across the supply chain of wildlife crime. However, to turn into a counter-hegemonic force in conservation, it needs to become a reactionary agent against the old framing of human-wildlife conflict and poaching that still inhibits holistic social sustainability in its target regions Details: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, 2016. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8893925&fileOId=8893927 Year: 2016 Country: Nepal URL: http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8893925&fileOId=8893927 Shelf Number: 141355 Keywords: Animal PoachingConservationElephantsIvoryPublicity CampaignsWildlife Crime |
Author: Stiles, Daniel Title: Ivory Trade, Terrorism and U.S. National Security: How Connected Are They? Summary: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This report examines the contention advanced by the United States government that poached ivory is being used to finance insurgency and terrorist groups in Africa. 2. The report also analyzes whether any organized groups that engage in elephant poaching and ivory trafficking in Africa pose a national security threat to the United States, which also has been posited by the government. 3. The U.S. government has used these contentions as a justification for imposing severe new restrictions on the import, export and sale of elephant ivory in the U.S. as declared in USFWS Director's Order No. 210. 4. The three groups that have specifically been named in U.S. documents as financing their activities with poached ivory, and which pose a national security threat, are AlShabaab, the Lord's Resistance Army and the Janjaweed. Each of these groups is examined in this report. 5. This report concludes that the only group under review that poses a national security threat to the U.S. is Al-Shabaab. The evidence that they engage in elephant poaching and finance their terrorist activities with ivory has been found lacking in credibility. 6. The Lord's Resistance Army has poached ivory and exchanged tusks for food and other goods, including possibly arms, at a low level. The LRA do not, however, pose a security threat to the U.S. 7. The Janjaweed have engaged in extensive elephant poaching and ivory trafficking, but they pose no current security threat to the U.S. The Janjaweed do not advocate an extremist Islamic philosophy such as that articulated by Al-Qaeda. Their hostile, scorched earth style military activities have been confined to non-Arab African populations of the Sudan and Central African Republic. 8. The severe new restrictions on trade in legal ivory already in the U.S., therefore, are based on a false premise. Restricting trade in legal ivory in the U.S. will have absolutely no effect on the financing of groups that pose a security threat to the U.S. 9. There is illegal ivory in the U.S. that has been smuggled in. The smuggling would no doubt continue even with further trade restrictions, as it is already illegal so new law will change nothing. The U.S. authorities have been ineffective in administering law already in existence, which is sufficient to control the illegal importation of new ivory from poached elephants if enforced properly. 10. The current elephant poaching crisis is caused by East Asian ivory dealers and carving factories buying poached ivory. Effective policy to reduce elephant poaching should therefore be directed at them, not at law-abiding American citizens. Details: Unpublished report, 2014. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Confidential Draft: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://danstiles.org/publications/ivory/42.Ivory&National%20Security.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: http://danstiles.org/publications/ivory/42.Ivory&National%20Security.pdf Shelf Number: 146424 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryNational SecurityTerrorist FinancingTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife Crime |
Author: Crosta, Andrea Title: The White Gold of Jihad: Al-Shabaab and the Illegal Ivory Trade Summary: Coordinated bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda, on 11th July 2010, claimed the lives of 76 people as they watched the World Cup final and catapulted the terrorist group responsible, Somalia's al-Shabaab, onto the world stage. The threat presented by this militant Islamist group with close links to al-Qaeda dominated recent African Union talks in Uganda and has prompted moves to strengthen the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia. But while attention is focused on sending more troops into the war-torn country, little attention is being paid to the ways in which al-Shabaab - a hard line, well-organized and compartmentalized organization - is financing its activities. Over the last 18 months, we've been investigating the involvement of al-Shabaab in trafficking ivory through Kenya, a trade that could be supplying up to 40% of the funds needed to pay salaries to its fighters. Kenya is no stranger to the threat posed by Somalia to its herds of elephants and rhinos, whose numbers are still recovering from the poaching onslaught suffered in the 1970s and ‘80s. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is constantly on the alert for incursions of Somali gangs – or bandits as locals call them – into the country's north eastern territory to poach elephants and rhinos. In 2007, 3 rangers died at the hands of Somali bandits as they crossed the Tana River on their way to Tsavo National Park. The incursion was halted but the cost in human life was high. All too often, however, the bandits slip across the border undetected, in their quest for the white trophy that is ivory. One can try to recount the poacher’s steps as they make their way to Meru National Park, east of Mount Kenya. In the early hours of the morning, a small group of elephants led by their matriarch approach a waterhole, unaware that three bandits are hiding just a few meters away, their AK-47 automatic rifles ready for action. With tusks worth nearly 3500 KSh or nearly US$50 per kilo, the elephants offer a lucrative prize to these trained ex-soldiers of Somali origin, desperate to make a living. The elephants begin to bathe in the mud of the waterhole. They have an acute sense of smell so the bandits know they have to act swiftly before the elephants can react to the threat of danger. The leader signals to the others as they fix their sights on the matriarch and a large male standing hunched together – the three calves won’t fetch enough money for them to bother with. A burst of automatic fire drops the two elephants instantly to the ground. The matriarch is fatally wounded but still alive as the bandits hack out her tusks, watched helplessly by the young calves. Shocked and traumatised, they will have little chance of surviving alone. The bandits load their prize and head out to safety. The leader takes out his cell phone and writes a quick message, ‘brother we have some goods to deliver, around 40 kilos, contact our cousins and lets make the deal’. In a Nairobi restaurant, a cell phone jerks into life and a young well-dressed Somali checks the screen. He reads the message carefully and takes out a notepad. The notepad reveals a page full of numbers and quantities in kilos. He marks down the amounts and adds them all together in his head. Using a small Iridium Sat phone he dials a number with a Somali prefix. On the other end, a man sitting in an office in Kismayo, Somalia picks up the call – is office is heavily guarded by Shabaab militiamen – their signature black flag waving on a pole above their heads . He notes down the quantities and sets a date for the pick-up. Unfortunately, poaching incidents likes Meru and illegal trafficking in ivory are still rampant in Africa. With demand soaring and a market price in Asia of over US$1500 per kilo, for most poaching gangs it is a simple matter of money. Moreover, the desperate political and economic situation in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), Somalia or Sudan perpetuates the poaching, which continues to be among the most lucrative criminal activities available. However, in common with other criminal activities involving exploitation of resources and environmental destruction, the poaching is backed and driven by foreign interests, in this case by the flourishing markets in Asia. Today, law enforcement agencies around the continent work together with INTERPOL and other international agencies, such as the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, to fight the illegal trade in wildlife and to implement rules agreed under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It is well known that criminal syndicates are involved in the trade, using sophisticated smuggling methods, bribing port personnel and customs officials, and using their own entrepreneurial activities as a cover for their smuggling operations. For the last twenty years, Kenya has led the war against trade in ivory and rhino horn. Established in 1989, the KWS has been in the forefront not only of actively protecting Kenya’s wildlife and national parks, but also in investigating and arresting felons, and in international negotiations under CITES to try to maintain a ban on international trade in the face of strong opposition. Surrounded by porous borders, Kenya has long been a transit point for illegal ivory. In an attempt to crack down on this trade, KWS recently stepped up pressure at the country's ports and airports where ivory is smuggled out. As a result, dealers looking for fast money and an easier market have turned to a new player in the game – Al Shabaab. Details: Los Angeles: Elephant Action League, 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: https://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Report-Ivory-al-Shabaab-Oct2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: https://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Report-Ivory-al-Shabaab-Oct2016.pdf Shelf Number: 146409 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal IvoryIllegal TradeIvory TradeTerrorist FinancingTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife Crime |
Author: Saru, Elema Wario Title: Poaching and the Funding of International Terrorism: A Case Study of Kenya Summary: The study has the aim of determining whether wildlife poaching provides funds for terrorism. It sought to answer the question; “what is it that drives wildlife poaching and international terrorism and whether the two have had any relationship between 2011and 2015?” The study further sought to establish the causes of wildlife poaching and the existing measures employed to curb the crime in Kenya. The scholarly literature reviewed has limited information on whether the two crimes have a relationship. The study objective assumed that there is a relationship between the two crimes and endeavoured to look for data to proof the same and found some relationship. The theory used by the study is greed and grievance developed by Frances Stewart and Paul Collier which explains how greed and grievance is motivating poaching of rhinos and elephants and that the proceeds have been used in terrorism activities in Kenya between 2011 and 2015. The methodology used by the study includes looking at the various sources of international terrorism funding and the role of wildlife poaching in terrorism in Kenya. The analysis of what mechanism was employed by Kenya in addressing the menace of wildlife poaching and its effects was made. The study established that proceeds from wildlife poaching had indeed funded terrorism in Kenya between 2011 and 2015 the difficulties of getting data/information notwithstanding. The study findings are that terrorism organizations need resources to survive and accomplish its objective and destruction of its economic base will hinder its operations. The resources required by terrorists include, money and other negotiable instruments, tangible resource, i.e. material goods with monetary value and intangible resources which are not materials where monetary value cannot easily be attached but have been traded for money. There are international, national and local levels of causes of poaching and the ever increasing demand for the illegal wildlife products where consumers are prepared to pay high prices for the product has been a constant reason for wildlife poaching. States employed various mechanisms in dealing with the scourge of wildlife poaching including law enforcement, stakeholders and community engagement and multilateral environmental agreements like CITES among others. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge through its findings and policy recommendations of increasing collaboration among law enforcement agencies, sustained financial, technical and political support by the national and county governments and recognize wildlife sector as a key component of Kenya’s economy and include wildlife crime in the category of economic crimes. Implementation of national land use policy that restrict subdivision of marginal land especially those within wildlife migratory and dispersal areas, lobbying for international ban on trade in wildlife and their products during multilateral meetings like CITES conference of parties, enhanced political support in making trade in wildlife and their products very expensive venture, use of mutual legal assistance mechanism in repatriating seized wildlife and their trophies and extradition of international smugglers and traffickers to face trial in range States where wildlife poaching takes place are some policy recommendation made by the study Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi, 2016. 135p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed March 10, 2017 at: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11295/99749/Saru_Poaching%20And%20The%20Funding%20Of%20International%20Terrorism%20A%20Case%20Study%20Of%20Kenya.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2016 Country: Kenya URL: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11295/99749/Saru_Poaching%20And%20The%20Funding%20Of%20International%20Terrorism%20A%20Case%20Study%20Of%20Kenya.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 144446 Keywords: Animal Poaching Animal Smuggling ElephantsRhinos Terrorist Financing Trafficking in Wildlife Wildlife Crime |
Author: Hedges, Simon, ed. Title: Monitoring Elephant Populations and Assessing Threats: A manual for researchers, managers and conservationists Summary: This peer-reviewed manual presents a conceptually-unified and statistically rigorous approach to monitoring elephant populations. The authors, who between them have many decades of experience in statistics, wildlife monitoring and elephant conservation work in Asia and Africa, present an array of methods for estimating elephant population size and distribution and for monitoring threats. The manual contains a pair of chapters for each of the major methods covered, with the first of the pair covering the underlying theory and the second covering practical field methods and recommendations. However, the practical chapters have been written so as to be as 'standalone' as possible; in other words, it should be possible to read a practical chapter and gain a good idea of how to use a particular method in the field without necessarily reading the entire theoretical chapter. This manual represents, therefore, a practical tool that will help address current elephant population monitoring needs and which will be of use to wildlife managers, conservationists and elephant researchers. Details: Hyderabad, India: Universities Press (India) Private Limited, 2012. 345p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/Monitoring_Elephant_Populations_and_Assessing_Threats_to_press_version.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/Monitoring_Elephant_Populations_and_Assessing_Threats_to_press_version.pdf Shelf Number: 145463 Keywords: ElephantsWildlife Conservation Wildlife Crime |
Author: Nkoke, Christopher Sone Title: Ivory Markets in Central Africa: Market Surveys in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon: 2007, 2009, 2014/2015 Summary: Weak governance, corruption and shifting trade dynamics are significant factors seriously undermining the control of ivory trafficking throughout five countries in Central Africa, according to a new TRAFFIC study launched today. Ivory Markets in Central Africa for investigations and analysis spanning a decade In the first comprehensive assessment of ivory trade in the region in nearly two decades, investigators from TRAFFIC visited major cities across Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Gabon in 2007, 2009 and 2014/2015. The investigators posed as buyers at known and newly identified ivory markets and workshops throughout the Congo Basin, interviewing everyone that they encountered connected to the ivory industry. In addition, discussions were held overtly with major stakeholders, including government officials in the five countries. The illegal and unregulated domestic ivory markets in (each of) the five Central African countries have been one of the main sources fuelling ivory trade in the region, as well as in West and Southern Africa and beyond (especially to Asia) in recent years. The report's findings show that open ivory markets in the region are disappearing, largely due to increased enforcement and competition with underground criminal networks. In its place, high-level corruption and poor governance are helping enable sophisticated international trade. Corruption, Collusion and Weak Political Pressure Current legislation prohibits domestic ivory trade in all countries except Cameroon. However, according to the report "there is a loose and ambiguous interpretation of the law in all countries, not only by the authorities in charge of enforcement, but also by many other actors...enforcement efforts are hampered by corruption, often involving high-level governmental officials, insufficient human and financial resources, mismanagement and weak political will." In DRC, one ivory trader interviewed claimed to have a relative in the army who supplied him with raw ivory. He also alleged that the main suppliers are government officials and, to some extent, UN peace keepers, who have the ability to move around the country frequently. Also in DRC, researchers recorded well-informed claims that the FARDC, the country's official army, was one of the main groups responsible for elephant poaching in Virunga National Park, with the ivory exported by the non-State "Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda" (FDLR) to whom the army would sell arms and military equipment. Open Ivory Markets Shifting Underground Throughout the multi-year investigation, market research showed that the region's open illegal ivory markets are disappearing or going underground, often in the face of increasing pressure from authorities conducting frequent law enforcement operations. TRAFFIC investigators recorded less than 1 kg of ivory products openly displayed in 2014/2015 within CAR, Congo, Gabon and Cameroon, compared to around 400 kg in 2007, and more than 900 kg in 1999 between all four countries. The one exception was the ivory market in Kinshasa, DRC, where over 400 kg of ivory products were recorded in 2015. DRC, however, has recently committed to stronger enforcement against the illegal ivory market in Kinshasa, a milestone which TRAFFIC and WWF supported last month. Carved ivory items were said to be bought by a mixture of African and non-African buyers: the former mainly acting as middlemen for foreign buyers. In 2014/2015 80% of foreign buyers were ethnic Asians, especially Chinese but also Malaysians and Vietnamese. In earlier studies, in 2007 and 2009, other nationalities were more regularly mentioned as buyers including French, Japanese, Koreans, Lebanese, Portuguese, Russians, Spaniards, and US Americans, according to the report. Rising International Criminal Networks "The generally positive news contained in this report about the decline of Central African ivory markets needs to be weighed against the fact that, throughout this sub-region, there are still many issues to be addressed and underlying trade dynamics may be shifting beyond local markets," according to Sone Nkoke of TRAFFIC and lead author of the report. common theme heard throughout the sub-region were allegations concerning Chinese citizens operating within organized criminal networks as key actors in the ivory trade. The sharp increase in raw ivory prices locally in recent years was ascribed to "high demand and limited supply owing to the shift to exportation through transnational ivory networks and syndicates with greater financial resources." The study found that "ivory trade in the region is shifting from an open domestic retail trade of worked ivory to underground transactions with a focus on the export of raw ivory to foreign markets, especially China." Among other key issues identified was the lack of robust and transparent mechanisms in place to ensure effective management of stockpiles in all the target countries. In Kinshasa, DRC, the investigators found raw tusks and worked ivory pieces in unsecured government offices - signalling a high potential for leakage into the local market. In Bangui, Central African Republic, the investigators were unable to perform a stockpile survey in 2015 as the storage facility had been looted by rebels. "Real concerted efforts are needed to address the serious decline in elephant populations throughout Central Africa: this is no longer just a wildlife issue, but an ecological disaster strongly driven by highly-organized crime syndicates. Criminals involved in international ivory trade are regularly exploiting weak State governance, and official collusion, confusion and corruption," said Sone Nkoke. "Clearly Central African countries face significant governance and enforcement challenges in regulating elephant poaching and ivory trafficking. They urgently need to ramp up their efforts to implement a range of commitments that they have made at multiple international fora over the last ten years," said Paulinus Ngeh, Director of the TRAFFIC Central Africa Regional Office. "Such efforts will need to be continuously and transparently monitored for quality and action." Central African States have pledged commitments to stop elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade under CITES, the African Union Common Wildlife Strategy, and other regional strategies, as well as under the United Nations fora on combatting corruption. Follow-through on these commitments is crucial to sustain wildlife in the region. Details: Yaounde, Cameroon and Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2017. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2017/9/7/new-traffic-study-lifts-lid-on-central-africa-ivory-markets.html Year: 2017 Country: Africa URL: http://www.traffic.org/home/2017/9/7/new-traffic-study-lifts-lid-on-central-africa-ivory-markets.html Shelf Number: 147176 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal MarketsIllegal TradeIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryOrganized CrimePolitical CorruptionTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife Crime |
Author: Vigne, Lucy Title: The Ivory Trade of Laos: Now the Fastest Growing In the World Summary: Executive summary - From 2013 to 2016, Laos's retail ivory market has expanded more rapidly than in any other country surveyed recently. - Laos has not been conforming with CITES regulations that prohibit the import and export of ivory. Since joining CITES in 2004, only one ivory seizure into Laos has been reported to the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS). - Almost no arrests, let alone prosecutions and punishments, have been made of smugglers with ivory coming in or out of the country. - Most worked ivory for sale in Laos originates from elephants poached in Africa. - Ivory has also been entering Laos illegally from Thailand, as Thai traders have been offloading their ivory following the imposition of much stricter regulations there. - In late 2013 the average wholesale price of raw ivory sold by Lao traders peaked at about USD 2,000/kg. - By late 2016, the average wholesale price of raw ivory in Laos had declined to USD 714/kg, in line with prices elsewhere in the region. This price was much higher than in African countries, such as Sudan (Omdurman/Khartoum), where the average wholesale price of ivory was USD 279/kg in early 2017. This price differential is due to the extra expenses incurred in transport and bribes to government officials on the long journey to Asia. - In Laos, the decline in the wholesale price of raw ivory between 2013 and 2016, as elsewhere in the region, was mainly due to the slowdown in China's economy, that resulted in an oversupply of illegal ivory, relative to demand. - Ivory items seen for sale in Laos are carved or machine-processed in Vietnam by Vietnamese and smuggled into Laos for sale, or are processed by Chinese traders in Laos on new computerdriven machines. Ivory carving by Lao people is insignificant. - In Laos, the survey found 81 retail outlets with ivory on view for retail sale, 40 of which were in the capital, Vientiane, 21 in Luang Prabang, 8 in Kings Romans, 5 in Oudom Xay, 3 in Pakse, 2 in Dansavanh Nam Ngum Resort and 2 in Luang Nam Tha. - The survey counted 13,248 ivory items on display for sale, nearly all recently made to suit Chinese tastes. Vientiane had 7,014 items for sale, Luang Prabang 4,807, Kings Romans 1,014, Dansavanh Nam Ngum Resort 291, Oudom Xay 93, Luang Nam Tha 16, and Pakse 13. - Most outlets, displaying the majority of worked ivory, also sold souvenirs, Chinese herbal teas or jewellery, or were hotel gift shops. - Outlets were usually owned by traders from mainland China. The number of Chinese-owned shops had risen in Laos from none recorded in the early 2000s to several in 2013, including one main shop in Vientiane's Chinese market and two on the main tourist street of Luang Prabang. By 2016, there were 22 and 15 outlets, respectively, in these two areas, both of which are popular with Chinese visitors. By 2016, Chinese outlets with ivory had also sprung up in other locations, mainly those visited by the increasing number of Chinese. - In 2016, the most common ivory items for sale were pendants, followed by necklaces, bangles, beaded bracelets and other jewellery, similar to items for sale in 2013, but in far larger quantities. - The least expensive item was a thin ring for USD 3 and the most expensive was a pair of polished tusks for USD 25,000. - Retail prices for ivory items of similar type were higher than elsewhere in Kings Romans, which is visited primarily by wealthier Chinese visitors with money to spend. - Mainland Chinese buy over 80% of the ivory items in Laos today. There are sometimes buyers from South Korea and other Asian countries, according to vendors. - Laotians today generally buy amulets that are made of bone or synthetic material, rather than ivory items. - Virtually no mammoth ivory items were seen for sale. - Retail prices in Laos for worked ivory on display were considerably lower than in China, as most items in China at that time were in expensive licensed outlets incurring higher official paperwork costs. Lao prices for worked ivory were a little lower than in the cities of Vietnam as Lao shop owners have smaller overheads. - In the absence of effective law enforcement, vendors believe that sales of ivory items in their shops to Chinese consumers will continue to do well, in line with the anticipated increase in the number of Chinese in Laos and the projected expansion in Chinese investment. - Nearly all the items seen for sale today originate from illegally imported (post-1990) ivory. There is virtually no law enforcement so shops are able to display these items openly. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Save the Elephants, 2017. 92p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2017 at: http://www.savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-Vigne-Lao-Ivory-Report-web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Laos URL: http://www.savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-Vigne-Lao-Ivory-Report-web.pdf Shelf Number: 147501 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal TradeIvorySmugglingWildlife Crime |
Author: Stiles, Daniel Title: An Assessment of the Illegal Ivory Trade in Viet Nam Summary: Viet Nam acceded to CITES on 20 April 1994. A series of government laws and decrees prohibit the hunting of elephants and other listed wild species (Prime Minister's directive 134/TTg, 1960; Council of Minister's decree 39/CP, 1963) and the use, trade and transport of products derived from them (Ministry of Forestry decision number 276/QD, 1989; Council of Minister's decree 18/ HDBT, 1992; Prime Minister's directive 359/TTg, 1996; Government Decree No. 48/2002/ND-CP, 2002; Government Decree 82/2006/ND-CP, 2006). The elephant is classed in category IB, patterned after CITES Appendix I, which means there is a complete ban on all trade of the species' products. In July 2000 the Revised Criminal Code set out regulations for the prosecution of cases of illegal exploitation of rare and precious wild species, including elephants. Since 1999, TRAFFIC has been carrying out country surveys of trade in ivory, along with trade in live elephants in some cases. TRAFFIC carried out an investigation of Viet Nam's role in elephant and elephant product trade in 2000 (Anon., 2002). In 2008, TRAFFIC set out to compile existing and new information on the trade specifically in elephant ivory in Viet Nam in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders. The following locations were surveyed between 4 April and 4 May, 2008: Ho Chi Minh City Vung Tau Phu Quoc island Ha Tien Nha Trang Hue Ha Noi Ha Long City The main findings of this survey were: - A total of 669 retail outlets were surveyed in the eight localities. Of these, 73 (11%) were selling ivory, totalling 2 444 items. - Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) had the most outlets (49) and ivory items (1 776) with Ha Noi second with 10 outlets and 407 pieces. Hue was a distant third with eight outlets selling a total of 141 items. - At least 17 craftsmen work ivory in Viet Nam in the places surveyed, with the highest number in and around Ha Noi, followed by HCMC and Hue. - Most of the raw ivory used in 2008 was said to originate in Laos, with small amounts coming from Viet Nam and Cambodia. Mammoth ivory from Russia is also used in small quantities. No African raw ivory was found. - Raw ivory prices were extremely high, possibly the highest in the world in 2008. Tusks weighing 1-3 kg sold for USD500-1 242/kg, with verbal reports of up to USD1 500/kg. Small, solid cut pieces and tusk tips weighing less than 1 kg were even more expensive, ranging from USD769/kg to USD1 863/kg. - The cause of the great ivory price rise seen in 2008 is continued demand for ivory from local and foreign consumers coupled with a restriction of supply. Seizures made in Viet Nam and elsewhere in recent years of African and Asian ivory suggest that most raw ivory supply is directed towards China. - Worked ivory prices were commensurately high. - The main buyers of ivory were visiting Chinese (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Thais, local Vietnamese, American-Vietnamese and Europeans, in that order. - The scale of the ivory market is smaller than in 1990, based on the number of craftsmen working ivory and the number of outlets selling ivory, but there are signs that demand is increasing. - African ivory was being illegally imported and used from the late 1990s to at least 2004. No evidence of African ivory being smuggled into Viet Nam was identified during the 2008 survey. The absence of African ivory imports is placing increased pressure on Asian elephants in Viet Nam and neighbouring countries to satisfy demand. - Fewer ivory items were seen in HCMC and Ha Noi shops in 2008 than in 2001, 2 182 compared to 3 039, but worked ivory is increasingly being sold directly to buyers through middlemen or on the Internet, bypassing retail outlets. - The average size and weight of worked ivory items is decreasing over time, with a higher proportion of <5 cm pieces seen in 2008 than in 2001. - Viet Nam has complied with recommendations in CITES Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14) to control the ivory industry by enacting legislation that prohibits all possession and dealing in raw and worked ivory. A major loophole in enforcing this legislation is that retail outlets are allowed to sell ivory in stock at the time of the prohibition (1992). This allows some shopowners to restock illegally with recently made worked ivory. - Viet Nam has also fulfilled its obligations to the CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme by setting up a monitoring site (Cat Tien National Park) and establishing the baseline data. - Viet Nam has unfortunately not implemented certain of the recommendations contained in CITES Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14). Its reporting record to ETIS has been extremely erratic and incomplete and it has not established a nationwide procedure, particularly in retail outlets, informing tourists and other non-nationals that ivory is illegal to purchase and it is illegal for them to export ivory and import it into their home countries. - Overall assessment - The scale of the Viet Nam ivory market remains modest on a global scale. Although there were 28% fewer worked pieces seen for sale in HCMC and Ha Noi in 2008 than in 2001, the great increase in prices of raw and worked ivory, the larger number of outlets selling ivory, and the observed upsurge in activity of craftsmen working ivory between 2001 and 2008 all strongly suggest that demand for ivory is rising, though a restriction of supply between 2001 and 2008 also contributed to the price rise. Less ivory on the shelves of outlets may in fact be the result of increased sales coupled with decreased availability of raw material to enable replacement. A contributing factor to fewer pieces seen in shops could be the fact that more buyers order items directly from craftsmen through middlemen, or commission items on the Internet, so the ivory never enters a retail outlet. Viet Nam has not complied with some important recommendations of CITES Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14) and there are weaknesses in national legislation that allow the continued trading in illegal ivory. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2008. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2018 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/08_Assessment_illegal_ivory_trade_VietNam.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Vietnam URL: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/08_Assessment_illegal_ivory_trade_VietNam.pdf Shelf Number: 114838 Keywords: ElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |
Author: May, Victoria Title: A Review of Wildlife Crime Court Cases in Malawi 2010-2017 Summary: Between 10,000 and 100,000 species are estimated to be going extinct each year, which is around 1,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate . Africa's elephants are declining at catastrophic rates. In 2014, the National Academy of Science in the United States published data showing that c. 40,000 Savannah elephants were poached each year in Africa between 2009 and 2013. At this rate of decline, this iconic species could be extinct in the wild by 2025. In Malawi over 50% of elephants have been lost in the last 25 years, and Kasungu National Park now supports c. 50 elephants down from c. 2,000 in the late 1980s. The illegal trade in ivory is driving the killing of our elephants, and armed criminal gangs now pose a real and immediate threat to our rangers and local communities. The volume of illicit ivory trafficked globally tripled between 1998 and 2011, and more than doubled between 2007 and 2011 . Between 2009 and 2014 there were over 90 seizures of ivory that weighed more than 500 kg, with a total weight of more than 170 tonnes. This included an ivory seizure in my own country in May 2013 of c. 2.6 tonnes. Unfortunately, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Flora and Fauna (CITES) recently listed Malawi as a country of "primary concern" in terms of elephant ivory trafficking. The same report proclaimed Malawi to be the principal transit hub for illicit ivory in Southern Africa. This is something that we Malawians are fully committed to rectify and we have made some significant steps forwards, including amending and strengthening our principle wildlife legislation and increasing our wildlife crime investigation capacity. However, wildlife poaching and trafficking is no longer solely a wildlife conservation issue and wildlife authorities cannot succeed if they attempt to tackle wildlife crime alone. The illicit ivory trade is a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise. It spans continents and contributes to the degradation not only of natural environments, but also our communities, rule of law, and security. It is evident that, in terms of crime profits, IWT now ranks alongside trafficking in drugs, arms and humans. So, whilst wildlife poaching and trafficking remain urgent conservation issues, they must also be seen as serious organised crimes that threaten states. A strong response is required, and by all arms of government. This includes wildlife authorities, but also wider law enforcement agencies, legislators and the judiciary. This project is evidence that here in Malawi we are adopting a collaborative inter-agency approach to tackling these serious crime, including the critical engagement of our Judiciary. This report presents legal analysis of all available elephant and rhino crime court cases concluded in Malawi since 2010. It also appraises the impact of courtroom monitoring and public-private prosecution on wildlife crime court outcomes, both of which were introduced in Malawi in July 2016. The purpose of this analysis was to develop a series of recommendations on the management and reporting of wildlife crime. All findings are based on data collected from courts across the country. Details: Lilongwe, Malawi: Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, 2017. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 2, 2018 at: https://www.lilongwewildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/Wildlife-Justice-Report-Final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Malawi URL: https://www.lilongwewildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/Wildlife-Justice-Report-Final.pdf Shelf Number: 148975 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal Wildlife TradeIvoryTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife Crime |
Author: Lau, W. Title: Closing Strategy: Ending Ivory Trade in Hong Kong Summary: Elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade have increased considerably in the past decade. This has occurred despite international control measures through the listing of the Asian Elephant Elephas maximus and African Elephant Loxodonta africana in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which restricted the international commercial trade of ivory from 1990. It has resulted in calls for urgent deterrent actions that go beyond CITES requirements, including domestic measures to address the illegal trade. CITES is given effect in Hong Kong through the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586) which controls the import, (re-)export and local trade of ivory. Hong Kong was once a prominent trading centre for ivory in the 1970s and 1980s, but the industry contracted considerably following the implementation of CITES trade restrictions in 1990, and waning demand from traditional overseas consumers. However, resurgence in international ivory trade activity in the past decade, both legal and illegal, have also reinvigorated Hong Kong's local ivory market. This has led many conservation advocates to campaign for a ban on ivory trade in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government's proposal to phase out local ivory trade, which was first announced in January 2016 and developed in June 2016, as well as additional enforcement and licensing measures, would be a significant commitment if passed through Hong Kong's Legislative Council, in line with ambitions in China, the USA and elsewhere to take drastic actions against illegal ivory. This report presents an assessment of commercial ivory trade in Hong Kong. Market surveys of ivory outlets were conducted during two periods-August and December 2015-with a rapid survey in November 2016 revisiting most of the same shops. These surveys occurred during a period when denouncements of the local ivory trade were at their most vocal, with new government measures and the possible cessation of local ivory trade bringing about significant uncertainties for local ivory traders. In this respect, this report captures the market conditions and sentiments at a critical moment in Hong Kong's ivory trading history. In addition, CITES trade data on import and re-export of preConvention ivory from Hong Kong between 2000 and 2015, as well as government seizure reports, were analysed to examine the extent to which Hong Kong plays the role of a trading hub for the international ivory trade, and discrepancies with local sentiments about the state of Hong Kong's ivory industry. Physical market surveys in the two main survey periods in 2015 found that while ivory is still readily available in Hong Kong, the vast majority of ivory retail outlets have to supplement their operations by selling a range of other goods, whether it is mammoth ivory, stone and timber carvings, other precious jewellery or antiques. Dealers generally spoke of a sluggish ivory market at the time of the surveys. When these ivory outlets were revisited in 2016, seven outlets appeared to have closed down for business, and two dealers spoke of plans to downsize by closing branch stores and to focus on the wholesale side of their ivory business. Overall, a consolidation of the market appears to be occurring. Larger specialist outlets were still making sales, but smaller outlets with a few ivory items displayed had fewer active transactions. Local ivory trade is controlled through a licensing system whereby premises have to be licensed before they can commercially trade in pre-ban ivory (pre-1990), and the licence must be displayed on their premises. Market surveys found that only 38% of outlets had licences displayed or had claimed to possess one. When questioned about whether ivory items can be taken out of Hong Kong, 36% of local ivory dealers were willing to sell ivory to buyers intending to depart from Hong Kong, encouraging the smuggling of small ivory items as personal effects without going through the due process of acquiring a CITES permit. 42% of traders accurately mentioned the need to have adequate CITES documentation with their purchase. Outlets that had licences displayed were only slightly less likely to suggest that smaller pieces of ivory might go unnoticed by enforcement authorities if taken across Hong Kong's borders. These findings present the shortcomings in the existing regulatory system, both in terms of compliance with existing regulations, as well as current perceptions of any law enforcement deterrent. According to CITES trade data, a considerable quantity of pre-Convention ivory has been imported into Hong Kong between 2010 and 2014, totalling 6,056 ivory pieces plus 4,554 kg. The majority of these imports were sourced from European countries. More than half of the ivory imported was raw ivory. Meanwhile, declared re-exports of pre-Convention ivory amounted to 323 ivory pieces plus 3,264 kg during the same period. Data from the CITES trade database show that raw ivory re-exports during this time were all destined for mainland China, indicating that the market in China is probably a driver for Hong Kong's raw ivory imports. It is puzzling, however, that part of the inflows of raw ivory into Hong Kong remained in the city, according to CITES data, even though there are no more ivory carving factories in Hong Kong and most carvers only operate on a part-time basis undertaking repair and bespoke work. The current proposal to phase out the local ivory trade, which as of the report's publication has still to be passed by the Hong Kong Legislative Council, will be a monumental step towards ending Hong Kong's once prominent role in the global ivory trade. However, a potential scenario that may develop even before a local trade ban is in place is that it could cause a surge in ivory trade out of Hong Kong. It is pertinent that law enforcement agencies remain vigilant that it does not lead to an increase of illegal trade activities. Several major ivory markets around the world have already imposed restrictions on the import of pre-Convention ivory, which would make Hong Kong's re-exports of ivory to those countries illegal, especially that of mainland China, which has had a blanket import ivory ban in place since 2016. Online ivory trade could be one method by which ivory dealers attempt to liquidate their stock, and much greater effort is required of Hong Kong's enforcement agencies to work with social media and e-commerce platforms to prevent illegal ivory transactions from taking place. Current plans to maintain an antique ivory trade, which would restrict trade to only a small pool of ivory items in Hong Kong, should also be monitored closely in future to prevent the laundering of non-antique ivory, or inadvertently encourage consumer demand for that ivory. The report recommends that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) take the following actions immediately to improve management of local ivory trade in Hong Kong while the trade is being phased out: - Assess the status, use and possible re-export of pre-Convention raw ivory that has been legally imported into Hong Kong in recent years, through follow up with licensed traders that had imported the items; - Ensure that aggregate figures and trends in Hong Kong's ivory stockpiles are published in the public domain not more than two months after year end, with a high degree of data resolution that includes quantities of raw/worked ivory, quantities by weight class, and types of ivory products; - Develop information circulars on recent legislative changes and domestic measures in key trading markets such as China, Europe and the USA, to make certain that licensed ivory dealers in Hong Kong are aware of the rapidly evolving changes to international and domestic trade measures, particularly new restrictions that are either now in place or being planned; - Require ivory traders to display an AFCD notice and poster in all licensed premises, and increase enforcement of this requirement so that potential customers have the means to identify lawful practices prior to the implementation of the proposed phase out plan; - Clarify with licensed ivory dealers the conditions for selling through online platforms. In addition, the Hong Kong SAR Government is encouraged to implement the following measures to tackle illegal ivory trade: - Following the example of China's implementation of its ivory ban, Hong Kong should hasten the local ivory trade phase out process, starting with the cessation of ivory possession licences being issued or renewed, in order to lessen the opportunity for laundering of illegal ivory from other markets into Hong Kong if a long grace period was provided; - Require regular monthly reporting of transactions by licensed ivory dealers to AFCD, which would enable ivory stock movements to be closely tracked; - Expand the current hologram system forlabelling registered ivory to allregistered stockpiles, for all commercial pre-ban ivory over 100 g, to minimise confusion about product legality for consumers; - Regulate the trade in antique ivory with a product marking and record keeping system so that future antique ivory trade can be managed and overseen by government authorities; - Review Hong Kong's stockpile management system for confiscated ivory, ensuring that there is a system in place for electronic record-keeping, safe storage and periodic audit of stockpiles. - Enhance co-operation of law enforcement agencies on wildlife crimes, including working with overseas counterparts and taking advantage of innovative communication and information sharing models that exist in other regions of the world, as well as local co-operation between AFCD, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department through joint operations and skills training; - Review maximum penalties for wildlife crimes to levels that reflect the seriousness of organized criminal involvement; - In line with the CITES Resolution on Demand Reduction (Resolution Conf. 17.4), develop supportive policies to encourage evidence-based strategies and campaigns targeting specific consumer groups to change behaviours about the consumption of ivory. Details: Hong Kong: Traffic, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 20, 2018 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/17_Closing_Strategy_HK.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Hong Kong URL: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/17_Closing_Strategy_HK.pdf Shelf Number: 149541 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIllegal TradeIvoryIvory TradeWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |
Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare Title: Ivory Seizures in Europe: 2006-2015 Summary: The biggest threat to elephants today is poaching. Indeed, the African elephant population declined by more than 50% between 1979 and 1989, mainly due to poaching to supply the international ivory trade. Practically all ivory for sale in the world has come at the cost of an elephant's life. There have been some strong political moves in recent years with China and the US introducing domestic ivory bans, as people recognise that the existence of legal markets around the world provides a cover for illegal ivory to be traded. Each year more than 20,000 elephants are being slaughtered because of consumer demand and ivory traders creating a desire to own ivory products. It is virtually impossible to fully calculate the scale of this illegal ivory market. This report seeks to investigate the quantities of seized, illegal ivory that have been reported across the European Union (EU) and to use this data to gain a better understanding of the role the EU plays in enabling the continuation of this trade as a consumer, exporter and transit point for the illegal ivory trade. The international ivory trade has been banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1989. Yet, the CITES agreement did not cover the sale of ivory obtained before that date. Moreover, CITES data indicates that illicit trade in ivory has tripled since 1998, leading to a 'serious conservation crisis'. As a new party to CITES since July 2015, the EU has a decisive role to play in controlling its internal ivory market as well as its international imports and exports. This IFAW research indicates that the EU plays a significant role in the global ivory trade. Between 2011 and 2014, member states detailed seizures of around 4,500 ivory items reported as specimens and an additional 780 kilograms as classified by weight. EU countries are key transit points for illegal ivory, either exported to other countries or kept within Europe, under the guise of ivory items acquired legally or as reported antiques, with some items being stained to appear as antiques. By exporting ivory items which are antique and legal to South-East Asian markets, European countries are fuelling the demand for ivory and helping to create a desire to own it. Between 2003 and 2014, 92% of EU exports of preConvention tusks went to China or Hong Kong. Six of the EU member states (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands and Portugal) stated definitively that they have observed an increase in the number of re-export certificate applications over the past few years. Yet several other countries either made no applications for the re-export of ivory in recent years or the numbers of applications received/certificates issued were so small that it was impossible to discern any significant trends (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and Slovakia). This report looks at each European country in turn, where data is available, highlighting key cases of ivory seizures as well as the largest volume of ivory seized by the authorities. Finally, the report puts forward a number of key recommendations for the EU. There is an urgent need for a common method of recording ivory seizures, and an EU-wide standardised monitoring system of the ivory trade. As countries already have to report to CITES authorities through the CITES Biennial Reports, not all seizures are made publicly available, which has hindered our data collection for this report. There needs to be a greater level of transparency and the EU needs to make ivory seizure data publicly available in a report every year, recorded in a consistent manner to compare country data across the EU. We hope this research will encourage a full European-wide ban and that individual countries, such as France and the UK, will lead within Europe to introduce the strongest legislation, which will send a powerful political message across the world. It is only by closing down the ivory markets once and for all, and removing consumer demand and desire for ivory products, that we will have any chance to save the remaining elephant populations and ultimately protect this iconic species from extinction. Details: London: IFAW, 2017. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed April 20, 2018 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifaw-pantheon/sites/default/files/legacy/ifaw_ivory_seizures_europe_proof_4.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Europe URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifaw-pantheon/sites/default/files/legacy/ifaw_ivory_seizures_europe_proof_4.pdf Shelf Number: 149866 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife Crime |
Author: Jayanathan, Shamini Title: Stopping poaching and wildlife trafficking through strengthened laws and improved application: Phase 1: An analysis of Criminal Justice Interventions across African Range States and Proposals for Action Summary: This report sets out the findings of Phase 1 of a project to further Sustainable Development Goal 15 and in particular, 15.7 "Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products" The project supports the Elephant Protection Initiative's (EPI) primary objective to enable full and timely implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP). It is focused on the AEAP's Priority Objective 1: REDUCE ILLEGAL KILLING OF ELEPHANTS AND ILLEGAL TRADE IN ELEPHANT PRODUCTS and its key strategies: Harmonize national policies and laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants within and across range States where possible. Strengthen the laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants. Strengthen the enforcement of laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants. The project focuses on the passage of wildlife crime along the 'criminal justice pathway': beginning with the legislative framework for prosecuting wildlife crime; turning to the investigator to prosecution 'handover'; prosecution capability, judicial handling of such cases at trial, sentencing and mutual legal assistance (MLA). It does not consider intelligence handling initiatives, policing per se or frontline protection projects. This report aims to: present a snapshot of the status of the criminal justice pathway; and past, current and planned interventions by various stakeholders including government and non-government organisations and development partners; and propose a scope of work for Phase 2: identifying existing and new cross-cutting tools and initiatives, including best practice laws and standard operating procedures, that are of general application across jurisdictions; cross-overs and opportunities for better partnerships and collaborations; and some country-specific observations and recommendations for action within the context of global, regional and national strategies (where they exist). The aim of Phase 2 will be to enable more effective government and non-government collaborations to deliver change in the criminal justice pathway, measurable by increased rates of conviction and stronger deterrent penalties. Details: Stop Ivory and the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) Group , 2016. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 30, 2018 at: http://www.internationalconservation.org/publications/ICCF_StopIvory_Report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: http://www.internationalconservation.org/publications/ICCF_StopIvory_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 150379 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Law EnforcementWildlife Trafficking |
Author: Meijer, Wander Title: Demand under the Ban: China Ivory Consumption Research Post-Ban 2018 Summary: The research for this report conducted between May and July 2018 reveals Chinese citizens claim to have purchased significantly less ivory since the ban was implemented. But the incidence of ivory purchase among regular outbound travelers stands out compared to the other buyers' segments. While the results of this research show that the ivory ban in China is generating positive changes, more efforts like strengthening market supervision, law enforcement and public education are recommended for to ensure the long-term success of ivory trade ban. Details: Beijing, China: TRAFFIC and World Wildlife Fund, 2018. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 12, 2018 at: https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1179/files/original/Demand_under_the_Ban_-_China_Ivory_Consumption_Research_Post-Ban_2018.pdf?1537976366 Year: 2018 Country: China URL: https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1179/files/original/Demand_under_the_Ban_-_China_Ivory_Consumption_Research_Post-Ban_2018.pdf?1537976366 Shelf Number: 152910 Keywords: Animal PoachingElephantsIvoryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |